Stuck In The Middle
by xh4z3L3y3sx
Summary: Rory is the town princess, and everyone in the town thinks that there is only one guy good enough for her, Dean. But, she wants to have more. Takes place in the second season, RJ
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, movies, or songs mentioned in this story.**

**A/N: Hello Everyone! I really don't know where this story is going, I'm just going to play it by ear. All I know is that it's definitely a Rory and Jess. Oh, and anyone who is interested, I am looking for a BETA. Thank You!**

Rory and Dean had a simple relationship, everyone thought that they were great together. Rory was the town princess, and everyone thought that Dean was just good enough for her, that he could be her prince. But, Rory secretly wanted more. She wanted to have more than a safe relationship. She knew that Dean couldn't give her more, but, she felt obligated to keep seeing Dean for the town. So, there she was sitting at the diner with her mother having these thoughts about her boyfriend.

Lorelai's phone rang, and brought Rory's attention back to her mother. "Ugh, I swear, if my mother calls me one more time about her stupid DAR meeting, I will be forced to kill her with my bare hands." Lorelai complained taking out her phone. "Just as I suspected, my mother yet again." The phone kept on ringing and Lorelai refused to answer it.

"Just answer it and get it over with, Mom." Rory said. "Besides, Luke will kill _you _if that phone keeps on ringing in his diner." Lorelai sighed.

"Alright." Lorelai gave up. "I'll be outside." Lorelai walked out of the diner to leave Rory sitting at the table alone. But, then, Rory noticed that Luke was yelling at someone. She turned her head and saw that Luke and Jess were fighting over something or another. She smiled to herself, Rory loved to watch them fight. She walked over to the counter and sat down.

"How many times do I have to tell you? You have to come to the diner after school! You need to help me. I can't do this alone." Luke exclaimed. "All you do after school is go around town making trouble! And then I get this urgent call, Jess did this, Jess did that and I am the one who gets blamed for it all."

"I have places to be if you excuse me." Jess said. A grin spread on his face when he saw Rory, but quickly hid it. He walked past Luke and walked out of the diner.

"I swear, that kid is driving me nuts." Luke muttered under his breathe. He saw Rory and took his pad and pencil out. "Hey, Rory, what do you want?" Luke asked.

"I want some onion rings and coffee." Rory smiled. Luke nodded and yelled the order out to Ceaser. Then, he walked over to a older couple sitting at a table and took their order. Soon, she heard the bell ring on the top of the door, and Lorelai walked in with a frown. "So, how did it go?" Rory asked Lorelai.

"I am going to ban my mother from having any more meetings at the Inn." Lorelai stated. She sighed and sat down next to Rory. "Aren't you supposed to meet Dean at the market? I thought that you guys were going to spend the day together."

"Yeah, we are. I'm just waiting for my food, and then I will go meet him." Rory said.

"Ok, well, I have to go to the Inn before Michel drives all our customers away." Lorelai smiled. "Then, I have a date, so don't wait up for me."

"That means that you are going to sneak in at three in the morning and say that you came home early."

"Yeah, well, you know me too well." Lorelai kissed Rory goodbye and was out the door. As soon as she did, Luke appeared and gave Rory her food.

"Thanks." Rory smiled. She ate her food slowly, she really didn't want to have to spend the day with Dean. The only reason was because she didn't want to see Lord Of The Rings again. He always wanted to do the same thing, and she didn't think that she could convince him to choose something else to do, even though she would try. Finally, she finished her food and left a tip on the counter.

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"And then, she made me move all of the tables around!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Now, I know what your thinking, it seems a little extreme for even Emily Gilmore to make me move every heavy dining table of the Inn around. But, you have to expect it when you are working for her." Lorelai sighed. "It's incredible, that I, her daughter end up working for her."

"Mom, you are not working for her." Rory soothed. "You are just providing a place for her to hold her DAR meetings. It's a very nice thing to do." They walked down the street in the snow.

"Well, then, I have to learn how to be more mean, 'cause I despise working with my mother." Lorelai complained. Now, they were walking towards Luke's in a slow pace to go and eat dinner. "Ok, enough about my mother. Let's talk about what we're going to do for Christmas this year."

"Grandma said that she and grandpa were going to be in Europe for Christmas and New Years, so we have the holiday to ourselves." Rory smiled.

"Thank god, I can't wait to have one Christmas without the Gilmores." Lorelai continued. "I was thinking of having dinner at Luke's and then going home and watching a Christmas Carol over and over again. How does that sound?"

"Good, but do you really want to go to Luke's? Because I was thinking that maybe they could come to our house. And they could bring food and stuff." Rory said. "We can have a nice Christmas dinner at home, I want it to be festive this year."

"Oh, I love that idea. I think they will go for it." Lorelai put her arm around Rory. "But, are you sure that you want Jess coming over? That might be a disaster."

"I don't get why you hate him so much."

"Hate is such a strong word. I just... highly dislike him."

"Same thing." Rory stated.

"Look, Rory, I just don't think that he is the best kid. He reminds me of me when I was his age, and I was not good. He has a problem with authority and he's kind of cool. But, guys like that only get the people around him into trouble." Lorelai continued. "He is not happy to be here, and I don't think that he will be thrilled to come to the dinner. That's all."

"I think that if I talk to him, he will come around. I just want to have all of us having dinner together. We haven't had that in a long time. And we both know that he will listen to me." Rory reasoned.

"Maybe. You can talk to him and see what he says, ok? Then, if he says no we will have dinner just the two of us."

"But we're not hoping he says no." Rory narrowed her eyes at her mom.

"Fine." Lorelai rolled her eyes.

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Jess read silently behind the counter. He had to come to the diner after school because when he came out of school Luke was ready to strangle him if he went anywhere else. Jess sighed, and then looked up at someone who came through the door. He smiled when he saw it was Rory, he always liked when they talked. It was much better than talking to anyone else in this stupid small town. Rory sat right in front of him in the counter. He tried to ignore her, but he ended up putting down the book and looking up at Rory. She smiled, and he smiled back. "What are you going to eat?" Jess asked.

"Nothing. I'm just here to talk to you." Rory stated.

"Oh really? Talk." Jess smiled.

"Ok, well, me and my mom were thinking that we wanted to have a kind of dinner for Christmas. And... we were wondering if you and Luke would want to come. It would be totally casual and we would just eat and then watch A Christmas Carol." Rory said.

"You guys are going to cook?" Jess asked in disbelief.

"Of course not." Rory laughed. "You know us better than that. You guys would bring the food, and then we would eat it. I know it's kind of weird, but I would really want you to come." Rory sighed. "And I know that you could make up about two hundred reasons to not come, but please consider it. I would love it if you would come."

"Fine."

"What?" Rory asked in disbelief. Had she just convinced Jess Mariano to come to dinner at her house? "Did you just say fine?" Jess nodded. She smiled, "Ok, well, thank you, I guess. Umm, see you later." Rory smiled. She waved goodbye and walked out of the diner. Jess turned his attention back to his book, then he realized that he had just agreed to go to the Gilmore's for dinner. Was he going insane?

**A/N: Ok, there's my first chapter. I hope everybody is liking it so far. Anyways, please keep reading, the next chapter is going to be up soon, I promise. Review and let me know if I should keep going!**


	2. Good night, Dodger

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, movies, or songs mentioned in this story. Thanks!**

**sanfrangiantsfan: I want you to be my BETA. I already e-mailed you about it, so check it. Sorry that I couldn't e-mail this chapter to you so you could check it, it's late and all i can think about is to go to sleep. lol. E-mail me, and after I finish writing I'll send you my next chapter for you to edit. Thank you!**

**A/N: Hey everybody! Thank you for everyone who reviewed. Hopefully this chapter is as good as the first one. If you click the review button and send me a pretty little message, I just might update faster. Keep on reading. Oh yeah, and sorry if there are a couple of things wrong, I didn't have time to check it over much.**

Rory heard a huge crash from the kitchen and woke up. She could have slept a couple of hours more, but no, her mother had to make a mess. She rustled in her bed, trying to cover up the sound, but it was no use. Rory sat up and pulled the covers off of her. She quickly walked over to her bathroom and pulled on a bathrobe. When she went in the kitchen she found Lorelai surrounded by pots and pans on the floors. "What are you doing on the floor?" Rory asked in an annoyed tone.

"Look at who woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Lorelai stated with a grin. "And let me give you a clue, it isn't me."

"Ok, let's go back to the whole you are on the floor making nice conversation with the pots and pans." Rory complained. "And if you try to change the subject, you die." Rory yawned and sat at the kitchen table her head leaning on her arm. She was falling asleep. "Make it quick, I'm falling asleep."

"I want to cook!" Lorelai exclaimed getting herself off the floor and taking a seat next to a almost sleeping Rory. "I want to cook food from all over the world, and I want to know what the oven is for. And what that weird electrical thingy does. I want to own a cooking show, and every time I go to the market buy real food like lemons." Lorelai said with energy. "So... what do you think?"

"I think that you are crazy and sleep deprived." Rory mumbled. Just then, the door opened to show Jess standing there with a box in his hands. Rory didn't notice, so she kept sleeping on the kitchen table. Lorelai looked puzzled as why he was there.

"Hi." Lorelai said. "What are you doing here?" Lorelai asked looking at Jess, then at Rory who had no idea he was there.

"Luke asked me to drop off some stuff." Jess replied and closed the door with his foot. "What's wrong with her?" Jess asked looking at Rory. "She looks like she's unconscious." Jess commented.

"Well, she pretty much is when she's sleeping." Lorelai stated.

"Sleeping?" Jess looked confused.

"Yeah, she's mad at me because I wanted to cook and the pots and I were talking. Lemons." Lorelai rambled. "Ok, maybe I am sleep deprived." Jess looked at her oddly.

"I will never be able to understand you or Rory." Jess said under his breathe, but loud enough so Lorelai could hear him. Then, suddenly Rory opened her eyes and saw Jess staring at her, she looked startled. "Morning." He smirked. She stared at him open eyed. Rory sat up and put her hands in her lap, showing her pajamas which were bunny pajamas. "Nice bunnies." Jess laughed and Rory blushed.

"Yeah, well, they are." Rory stated. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Well, Luke thought that you guys wouldn't be up, so I would have just left the box here on the counter." Jess said putting the box down. Lorelai looked at the tension between them, and she suddenly felt in the middle. "Ok, well, I should get going, Luke is going to go crazy on me." Jess stated. "As you were." He smirked once more and then he was out the door.

"Well that was embarrassing." Rory exclaimed looking at her mom.

"Don't look at me, I didn't have anything to do with it." Lorelai smirked.

"I am wearing bunny pajamas." Rory complained. "He will be able to mock me for the rest of my life." Rory pouted, and caught her mother smiling. "Don't smile, just because he can black mail me does not mean that you can. Now, I'm going into my room to get a normal amount of sleep, bye." She walked into her room and slammed the door.

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Rory walked through the town on her way to the market to meet Dean. He had told her the night before that he wanted to do something today, and she was stuck, and couldn't get out of it. Rory opened the door to the market and saw Dean in isle four putting some stuff on the shelves. She sneaked up behind him and tapped on his shoulder, he jumped but then turned and saw Rory, he greeted her with a kiss.

"You scared me." Dean stated with a smile.

"I didn't know that you didn't like to be scared." Rory replied. "You told me that you wanted to do something today, so I came right to the source." Rory smiled. He nodded and put the box he was carrying down.

"Alright, but I don't get out until like two hours." Dean said with a sigh. "I know it sucks, but Taylor told me that he needed me because Rick called in sick. And I'm the only bag boy left." He looked disappointed, but she felt a little relieved that she didn't have to go watch The Lord of the Rings, again. But, she quickly hid it with a frown. "Once I get out, we'll go eat something, okay?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, whatever you want." Rory smiled. "Well, I guess that I'll be off to the movies alone, then. Bye." Rory gave him a kiss on the cheek and waved goodbye one last time. When she walked outside the cold air immediately hit her in the face, and she shivered slightly. Wow, she couldn't believe that it was already so cold, so soon. Then, she saw that the clouds were pretty cloudy, and that meant that it was going to snow. She didn't want to be caught in the middle of the snow, so she hurried down the sidewalk and into the theater where Kirk greeted her. "Hey, Kirk." Rory smiled.

"Hello Rory. How are you today?" Kirk asked.

"Oh fine, I want to see a movie. How much is it for... Ooooo! Pippi Longstocking!" Rory exclaimed. "Oh my god, me and my mom haven't seen that in such a long time." Rory smiled. "I will take one ticket for Pippi please." Kirk nodded and handed her a ticket. Rory walked into the theater and saw an empty seat in the middle, she quickly sat down and got settled down to watch her movie. She was really into the movie when she felt something tapping on her head, so she turned her head to find a dark figure smirking at her. Then, she realized it was Jess, he was throwing pop corn at her! She turned her body to face him. "What are you doing here?" Rory exclaimed, and heard a lot of voices shushing her.

"Just wanted to see a ten year old hold up a horse." Jess smirked leaning a little closer to her. "Good old family fun."

"Ok..." Rory rolled her eyes. "Were you throwing pop corn at me?" She asked annoyed.

"Might have, don't remember." Jess shrugged. "Why are you talking to me?"

"Because, you were throwing pop corn at me! That deserves a little conversation." Rory complained. "Plus, unless I want my hair all nice and buttered, I have to defend myself."

"Hey, hey, hold on. I was just screwing with you." Jess smirked. "Although, I don't mind your conversation."

"Ok, turning around now." Rory stated and looked back at the screen. She smiled under in the dark and she wanted to look back at him, but knew she couldn't. Then, she saw Jess walk over to the seat next to her, and just sit down. She was surprised, but didn't mind his company. "Your sitting next to me." Rory stated the obvious.

"Wow, you sure are smart." Jess said in a sarcastic voice. So, they sat in silence while they watched the movie. It's not that either of them didn't want to say anything, it was that they simply didn't have anything to say. He stared at her, and smirked.

"Stop that." Rory demanded.

"Stop what?"

"Stop watching me while I watch the movie, It's really annoying." Rory smiled. He still stared at her, and she sighed. "Yet, your still staring."

"Where's Dean?" He asked out of the blue.

"Random Jess strikes again." Rory stated with a smirk. But, he looked at her still. "Why are you so interested anyway?" Rory asked. She wondered if he would tell her the truth, or just lie and completely lie to her face.

"I was just wondering why you are at the movies alone, when you could be with Dean." Jess stated now looking at the screen. "Besides, that guy is so possessive of you, that you would think that he would hold on to you every time he could."

"Well, it just so happens that Dean is working later than usual today, so it was nearly impossible for him to come with me." Rory said. "Besides, I can do stuff by myself without Dean, it's the 21ST Century, you know." The movie ended before he could respond and once the credits started he grabbed her hand and lead her outside. "Hey! What are you doing?" Rory asked as she was being pulled by the hand down the street.

"If I told you that it wouldn't be any fun." Jess smirked. She tried to pull away from his grip, but he was way stronger than her. They were now running down the street, well, it was almost like Jess was pulling Rory down the street. Then, she suddenly felt a bit of excitement. She had never felt this with Dean, it was something new, and she liked it. Then, they reached their destination, the bridge. Rory felt a little confused as why they were there, but she followed him. They both sat down on the edge of the bridge.

"What are we doing here?" Rory asked.

"I like this place." Jess smiled, which he rarely did. "It's a good place to think."

"Ok, but did you have to kidnap me to get me here?" Rory asked looking at Jess. He shrugged, but then nodded and smirked. They both stared down at the water, that looked like it was icy cold. A couple of minutes later, snow started to fall and they were starting to get wet. "It's freezing and it's starting to snow. After we get out of here we're going to be soaking wet and have pneumonia."

"Well, at least we have a plan." Jess looked at Rory, who was smiling and looking at the snow. He loved her innocense when she did stuff like that, that's one thing that he liked about her. Then, he noticed that she was shivering because of the cold. He took his scarf and put it around her neck.

"I can't take this. Your going to freeze to death." Rory said with a worried face.

"It's okay. You'll know when I'm actually freezing to death, I'll be all blue. Then you can get worried." She nodded. The scarf smelled like Jess, it was weird to think about but it did. Maybe a little bit of cigarette smell, and his cologne. Man, he smelled good. God, she shouldn't be having these thoughts, just eliminate them from her brain. Then, she suddenly thought that she couldn't be there anymore, she would be thinking these thoughts if she was with him.

"Umm, I gotta go." Rory made up her mind. "Thanks for everything, Jess. Bye." Rory walked down the bridge leaving Jess wondering why she had left so soon, what had he done? But, she turned around and waved with a big smile on her face. Then, he secretly smiled to himself, he hadn't done anything wrong. Rory shouted out something before she was completely gone, but he heard exactly what she had said, "Good night, Dodger."


	3. Thoughts

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, movies, or songs mentioned in this story. Thank you!**

**A/N: Ok, well, here's the next chapter. Sorry that it took a little longer to update, but dont worry I'll get the chapters to you faster, I promise. Thank you for a who reviewed. You all make a difference in my writing. Please tell me what you like and what you dont like, so I know. Thanks, and remember to review!**

Rory ran home after her afternoon with Jess, she wasn't even sure what she thought about it. She could be happy, or something else... who was she kidding? Of course she was happy, Jess _always _made her happy. The door slammed behind her when she entered her house. Rory found her mom sitting on the couch, surprisingly with a book in her hands, then she noticed that it was once of _her _books. "Hey mom." Rory greeted her mother.

"Hey, Babe." Lorelai smiled, happy to have her daughter home. "Just looking at your books."

"I can see that." Rory said interested as why her mother of all people was reading. "Mom, why are you reading? Are you feeling okay?" Rory asked putting her hand over Lorelai's head to see if she was hot. "You seem perfectly fine." Rory stated with a confused look on her face. "Why are you perfectly fine and reading a book?"

"Just looking at how Jess vandalized your books again." Lorelai stated. "It seems that he has written in almost every one of them."

"Yeah, I told you before, it is not vandalism if you want the person to write in your margins."

"Dirty!" Lorelai exclaimed. "I was bored, and I needed to bother someone. Where were you? Kissing Dean?" Lorelai mocked, she made the kissing noises until she realized that Rory had not nodded, she had shaken her head. "You weren't with Dean?"

"Nope." Rory stated. "Well, I'm going to go into my room, I'm really tired and I can't deal with an annoying you." She started to her room. "I'll be there if you need me." After about a minute Lorelai sensed that something else was going on, so she followed Rory into her room.

"I'm curious, who were you with?" Lorelai surprised Rory, and she jumped.

"My god, announce yourself!"

"Rory, I would like to know who you were with." Lorelai stated and looked at Rory.

"No one."

"Might this no one's name happen to rhyme with Tess?" Rory nodded, and then stood up to start re-arranging her books that Lorelai took out. "Rory! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew that you would react like this." Rory replied.

"Like what? I have a right to be mad because my child told me that she was going off with her boyfriend and she goes out with Jess." Lorelai said getting madder by the second. "Is Jess a code name for boyfriend? Do I have to read the mother- daughter hand book again?"

"I was going to go out with Dean, but then he said that he couldn't come with me for two more hours, so I went to the movie theater _alone._" Rory continued. "Jess was there and he sat with me so I wouldn't be lonely. Then we went to the bridge together and we talked. Nothing happened."

"And every time I hear the words, 'nothing happened' and 'Jess' in the same sentence, I think I should get my hearing checked." Lorelai exclaimed.

"Why are you so against the whole Jess thing?" Rory asked. "He's my friend."

"Rory, you are so naïve to think that this guy has any good in him. Can't you understand that this guy is trouble?" Lorelai asked in frustration. "Sure, he seems cool now, but what about when you have a broken heart? He's going to hurt you, and I'm not allowing for it to happen."

"How can Jess possibly hurt me?" Rory asked.

"Oh, I can think of a few things."

"Look, I don't need you to like him. I _do _like him, and neither you and Dean can do anything about it!" Rory exclaimed. "You're both wrong, Jess is a good guy and if you don't believe that then get out of my room!"

"You can't throw me out of your room!"

"Except I am!" Rory yelled, she pushed Lorelai out of the room and slammed the door. She didn't know what to do, she hated fighting with her mom. It was always so frustrating because she couldn't go to Luke's or anywhere else that Lorelai could be. Hopefully, Lorelai would have a lot of work at the Inn tomorrow and she would leave Rory alone. She decided to go to bed, it had been a long day and she just wanted to rest.

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Rory climbed out of the bus after a long day at Chilton, her backpack was so heavy that she had to sit at the bench right in front of the bus stop for like ten minutes before she proceeded to Luke's. She wasn't sure if her mom would be there, but she wouldn't have to sit with her if she didn't want to, it was her choice. The little bell rang to announce her entrance and she sat at the counter. Rory looked around and noticed that her mom wasn't there, so she shrugged and put her backpack down. Jess walked up to her with a note pad.

"Hi." Jess greeted her. "You don't look so good, bad day at school?" He asked.

"Umm, yeah. Paris was freaking out the whole day because we're a _little_ behind on the Franklin... and this kid Brad is back and I had to spend the whole day convincing him that Paris would never attack his rabbi." He nodded.

"Ok, well, what do you want to eat?" Jess asked.

"The usual, I guess." Rory stated, Jess nodded once again and then he was off to tell Ceaser what she wanted. Rory was a little surprised that Jess had even asked about what was wrong with her, it was weird. He was never kind of the conversation guy. Before she had time to ponder this thought, Lorelai charged in through the door and sat next to her.

"Luke! Need caffeine!" Lorelai exclaimed. After a few seconds, Luke was still not coming. "Come on! You don't want me to die, do you?" Lorelai asked, and then an angry Luke came behind the counter and got some coffee.

"Jeez, I was in mid pour." Luke mumbled. "You're not the only one in this diner, you know?"

"I know, but there was no coffee at the Inn, which means that I have only had two cups of coffee in the whole day." Lorelai sighed taking a sip of her new coffee. "Thank god..." Lorelai trailed off when she saw that Rory moved from the counter to another table when she arrived, but quickly dismissed it. "I was so desperate that I almost went to Taylor's for coffee."

"Then, you would have _really_ died." Luke replied. "So, sounds like a bad day."

"Oh yeah, Rory and I are fighting, so I have nobody to talk to about these things." Lorelai sighed.

"What did you and Rory get into a fight about?"

Lorelai hesitated for a second, "Umm, just some dumb girl stuff."

"Well, then, if it's not that important then I think you should go talk to her. Make up." Luke stated. "That way I don't have to learn anything I don't need to know about your life." He added. Lorelai nodded and then turned around to look at Rory, she was at the table talking to Jess. They looked happy and more importantly she looked happy. Lorelai took a deep breath and then walked over to the table.

"Hi, Jess." Lorelai greeted with a fake smile. "Can I have a sec with my daughter?" Lorelai asked, trying to be as nice as she could be. He nodded and then went behind the counter. She sat down at the table and looked at Rory, but Rory looked away. "Come on, kid. How long are you going to give me the silent treatment?"

"I just have nothing to say." Rory replied stubbornly.

"Look, I'm sorry that I reacted the way I did." Lorelai sighed. "Maybe he _does _have some good in him, I haven't really spent a lot of time with him, so I don't know. But, Rory all I'm asking is for you to be careful. I know how these guys are, they grab your heart and then hurt you really bad."

"He isn't going to do that!" Rory exclaimed. "Jess is my friend and everyone in this stupid town is going to stay out of it."

"Hey, hey, where did this come from?" Lorelai asked.

"I know that Dean is going to be mad that I blew him off to be with Jess." Rory sighed.

"What? You blew off Dean to be with Jess? I thought that he couldn't get out of work for two hours."

"Yeah, well, I kind of promised him that after I went to the movies we would go to dinner..." Rory stated. "And then Jess and I went to the bridge, I totally forgot that I had to meet Dean. I'm sorry, I just lost track of time..." Rory drifted off.

"Oh, honey, I think that Dean would understand if you tell him that."

"No he won't! He'll start blabbing about how I was supposed to be with him and I was with Jess. And how I like Jess, and not him." Rory exclaimed.

"Do you like Jess?"

"Uh, no. I definitely don't." Rory stuttered. "I like Dean..." Rory stated glancing at Jess.

"You just said that you liked Dean while you were watching Jess." Lorelai exclaimed. "Rory, don't you think that you have to make a decision, Jess or Dean?"

"I already have made my decision, mom. Dean is my boyfriend."

"Ok... if you say so…but if you change your mind, I'm here. Even if you decided that it's Jess that you like. I might consider murder suicide, but I will eventually be okay with it." Lorelai smiled, and Rory nodded. "Okay, then let's eat. I'm starving."

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"So, I was hoping that maybe you would like to come." Dean proposed.

"To a basketball game?" Rory asked. They had been hanging out in the square, since they didn't get to go out to dinner the other night. Rory made up some lame excuse as why she didn't meet him for dinner and he bought it. She just didn't want to get into a fight with Dean right now.

"Yeah, to watch me play." Dean stated with hopeful eyes.

"I don't know, I don't really like basketball, you know? I mean, would it be okay if I missed this one?"

"There aren't that many, Rory. I was hoping that you would want to come to your boyfriend's basketball game, but I guess I was wrong." Dean exclaimed. Rory could tell he was upset, but she didn't understand why. It was just a basketball game, there wasn't a big thing about it. "Just forget I even asked."

"You're mad." Rory sighed.

"It's just... you don't seem to want to spend any time with me."

"Dean, that's crazy. I... love you..." Rory stuttered, it had not been the first time she had said that to him. But, lately it had seemed so hard to say, she almost had to choke it out. "And the more time that I spend with you the better. It's just that basketball isn't really my thing."

"Alright." Dean sighed. "I love you too." He smiled and kissed her lightly on the lips. Rory tried to smile, but she couldn't so she just sat down on the nearest bench. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Rory stated. "Umm, Dean, did I mention that Luke and Jess are going to have Christmas dinner at my house?" Rory asked.

"No!" Dean exclaimed.

"Well, they are. I'm sorry I didn't mention it before." Rory said. "We want to have Christmas together because we're practically family. We have known each other for such a long time and it just seems right. You know?"

"You and Jess haven't known each other that long!" Dean protested. "I knew you longer than he did!"

"Dean, this isn't a contest of who knew who the longest. I want them to be there with us." Rory smiled. "Besides, why are you so upset? You'll be at Chicago for Christmas and I'll be here. Me and my mom usually have Christmas dinner at Luke's, but this year we wanted to have dinner at our house." Dean sighed.

"Why do you insist on spending so much time with this guy?" Dean asked.

"I don't, he's my friend. I told you that." Rory stated. "Just... don't be mad, okay?"

Dean nodded and put his arm around her. Rory bit her bottom lip when he did this, but kept her thoughts to herself.

**Push the little button that says 'review' you know you want to.**


	4. Shopping and Presents

**Disclaimer: Don't own them. sigh**

**A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers, you guys are amazing! Really. I want to thank my BETA for gettingit to me so fast. Read and enjoy!**

Lorelai felt something shaking her, so she opened her eyes and found Rory opening her curtains letting the sun into her room. She grunted then sat up to look at her clock, 6:30 in the morning.

"Ugh..." Lorelai grunted dropping her head on the pillow again.

"Come on, mom. Rise and shine!" Rory exclaimed plopping on the bed next to her. "Wake up sleepy head." She took the pillow from under her.

"Give me my pillow back!" Lorelai protested lifting her head.

"No, 'cause then you'll go back to sleep."

"Okay darling daughter, Let's have a little conversation." Lorelai sat up and looked at Rory. "Okay, here it is. It's six-thirty in the morning! Umm, oh yeah, and give me my pillow back!" She took the pillow and lay back down.

"But we have to do our holiday shopping." Rory took the pillow.

"Not at six thirty in the morning we don't." Lorelai tried to get her pillow back again, but Rory flung it across the room.

"There. You have to walk across the room to get your precious pillow." Rory stated with a sly smile. "Now, I'm going downstairs to make coffee, so the pretty coffee is downstairs."

"I'm going to kill you."

"Well, you'd have to go downstairs to kill me." Rory smiled and ran out of the room.

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Rory was downstairs making coffee when an angry Lorelai came in the room.

"Good, your dressed. The coffee will be done in a minute."

"Okay, I am officially annoyed." Lorelai grunted. "When said daughter wakes me up at six thirty in the morning and there is no good coffee in this house. You are annoyed."

"What do you mean? This is good coffee."

"It's de-caf."

"And how do you know that?"

"Hello? The nose." Lorelai stated pointing to her nose. "Anyways, we have to go to Luke's."

"But that'll put a dent in our list."

"To hell with the list! I need coffee, and I will not be denied! Not today anyways." She sighed. "So, come on, throw that coffee in the garbage, let's get moving."

"But..."

"No buts!" Lorelai exclaimed grabbing her daughter's arm and leading her out of the house. Lorelai took a deep breath in. "I smell snow."

"It just snowed last night, mom." Rory rolled her eyes.

"So, does mother nature just want it to snow once a day?" Lorelai asked. "Nope, not when Lorelai Gilmore says it's going to snow." Rory still rolled her eyes. "Fine, you know what? I'll give you five bucks if it doesn't snow."

"No thank you." Rory sighed. "Because I know that mother nature is cruel to me, and she would play this prank on me just to prove you right."

"Well, yeah, I have connections with mother nature."

"Right." Rory nodded. They walked past the dance studio and it was closed.

"Ugh! Look, not even Ms. Patty's is open. See, that is what happens when you drag someone out of their resting place at six thirty in the morning!"

"I have a feeling that this is going to be one of those things that you hold over my head for the rest of my life."

"Yep." Lorelai smiled. They finally reached the small diner, but Lorelai stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the sign that hung up on the door, 'Closed.' "Is it alright if I have a heart attack right now?"

"I'm sure they just forgot to open it." Rory reasoned.

"Nope, they didn't." She sighed. "They just want to torture my poor soul!" Lorelai said dramatically. "Luke!" She called out as she knocked on the door really hard, causing the door to shake. "Jess! Diner boys!" Lorelai heard a thump come from upstairs and smiled to herself. "They're up."

"Yes and you're going to go to hell for that." Rory stated. "Oh, and if they ask, I had nothing to do with this." Before Lorelai could respond, Luke stumbled down the stairs and went to the door. His eyes widened when he saw them. "Oooh, he's mad."

"Oh my god." Luke mumbled. Then, he opened the door. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Uh, duh, we want service!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Have you seen the sign on the door? Or have you forgotten to read?" Luke asked annoyed. "It says 'Closed!'" Lorelai ignored him, and pushed him aside as she entered the diner and sat at the counter with Rory quickly following. "Did you know that it's six-thirty in the morning?"

"Yeah, but I heard a rumor that the diner is supposed to be open at six thirty in the morning." Lorelai smiled. "Plus, _she _woke me up." She accused Rory. "And I need coffee."

"We're not open."

"Yes you are." Lorelai debated.

"I think that I'd know if my diner was open, Lorelai."

"No you wouldn't." Lorelai insisted. Luke sighed and moved behind the counter. "Yes!" Lorelai smiled in victory. "I want two cups of coffee, cereal, and hmmm... maybe a danish."

"We don't have cereal and today is not danish day."

"How could you not have cereal?"

"We just don't."

"Not even frosted flakes? Their grrrreat!" Lorelai exclaimed. Luke shook his head. "But you bought them when Jess moved in... I bet he never ate them. And I never pictured you as the frosted flakes kind of guy.

"It's been almost a year since I bought them... and besides, I don't know where they are." Luke mumbled.

"Hun, go get the frosted flakes upstairs." Lorelai told Rory and she nodded.

"And apparently everything I say completely doesn't matter now." Luke protested.

"It never did." Lorelai smiled.

"I'll find them." Rory stated and stood up from her seat. She walked up the stairs, faintly hearing their conversation about the danishes. She opened the door to the small apartment and had to cover her ears. There was music blasting from the stereo. She sighed and walked next to Jess's bed. He was sleeping soundly with the music blasting! She shook her head and turned off the music. Then, he opened his eyes and smirked.

"Hello." Jess greeted sleepily.

"I'm just here to get the frosted flakes. You may go back to sleep." Rory stated.

"I can't. You turned off my music."

"How can you possibly sleep with Metallica blasting through the roof?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"You're right, I wouldn't." Rory agreed. She walked into the 'kitchen' and looked around. "Do you have any clue where it might be?" Rory asked looking at Jess who shook his head. "Great, now I'm going to have to go downstairs empty handed. My mom will kill me."

"What's the big deal about the frosted flakes?" Jess asked standing up from his bed. "Some crazy craving?"

"I don't know. I think it's partly because she wants to annoy Luke, and get pay back on me."

"Why would she want to get pay back on her perfect daughter?"

"I'm not perfect." Rory sighed. "I woke her up early when she didn't want to wake up. So, we came here. Now she's holding it over my head." Jess looked at her with amusement. "I'm boring you to death, aren't I?"

"Yep, but that's okay, it's better than Luke babbling about how I need to learn how to clean up and then hitting me over the head with one of my magazines." Jess stated.

"Why _is _this place such a mess?" Rory smirked.

"Just don't feel like cleaning up."

"Oh come on, how could you like being in this pigsty. I mean, I have only been here for a couple of minutes and I have to fight the urge to clean all this up." Rory sighed. "No wonder Luke is always down at the diner."

"Well, it's also partly because his loser nephew is up here."

"You are not a loser."

"Right..." Jess rolled his eyes.

"Well, I have to go." Rory stuttered. She was about out the door, when she felt his hands grabbing her arm. She felt a tingle go through her back. _I have to get downstairs before I do something stupid.'_ Rory thought. She turned around where their heads were dangerously close.

"Wait.." He whispered, making her tingle again. He held up the frosted flakes that she had been looking for. Jess smirked and bit his lip.

"Thanks." She whispered back. Rory leaned in...

"Rory!" Lorelai shouted and entered the apartment and both of the teenagers flew apart. You were up here so long that I thought that you had gotten lost in the big pile of Jess' clothes." Lorelai smiled, seeing that there was something going on before. "Hi, Jess."

"Hi, Lorelai." Jess stated awkwardly.

"Guess what?" Lorelai asked Rory.

"Uh, what?"

"I convinced Luke to come with us!" Lorelai shouted. "And guess what, Jess?"

"What?" Jess sighed.

"Luke said that he wasn't going to come unless you came, so..." Lorelai smiled. "You have won a fabulous trip to the mall to spend the day with the Gilmore girls!" She exclaimed. "And Luke."

"No." Jess said shaking his head.

"Oh, come on..." Lorelai whined.

"Yeah, Jess, you have to come." Rory stuttered, not really wanting him to come after what _almost _happened. Lorelai nodded looking at her daughter and how her eyes were wandering.

"Alright..." Jess drifted off.

"Sure, when she says it." Lorelai complained. "Now, I had to do a little arm twisting with Luke, but when Rory Gilmore says something once, all the guys just _bow_ down to her feet." Rory and Jess just sighed.

"Let's just go." Rory stated. "I have the frosted flakes.."

"Oooh! Yay!" Lorelai exclaimed.

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Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and Jess were driving to the mall in Lorelai's car. They complained every second that they could because they were very squished. Rory and Jess in the back, Lorelai and Luke in the front.

"I don't understand why we had to take your car." Luke complained looking at Lorelai.

"I don't understand why you insisted on driving." Lorelai replied.

"I don't understand why the two of you can't shut up!" Rory exclaimed.

"Ditto." Jess mumbled. "Rory, you're squishing me."

"Well, I can't help it, mom's car is tiny. Before, I thought that it was very big, but now it is looking smaller than those tiny clown cars." She shifted uncomfortably. "Jess, you're taking all _my _space."

"I am not! Your shoulder is digging into my side!"

"Stop the bickering, guys!" Lorelai interrupted. "Ugh, I need music." She turned on the music, and a country song came on. Lorelai smiled wickedly in victory. "Aha! Revenge!"

"No, mom, take that off!" Rory complained. Lorelai shook her head and danced in her seat. "I know you wanna get revenge, but all you're going to do is end up killing us." She grunted. But Lorelai only turned it up louder.

"Lorelai!" Luke exclaimed.

"Yeah, turn that crap off!" Jess agreed.

"Nope, 'cause I am the manager of the radio."

"And why is that, mother?"

"Because I am sitting in the passenger seat. And everybody knows that the person sitting in the passenger seat gets to control the radio because the people who are sitting in the back can't reach all the way to the front of the car to change the radio and the person driving can't possibly reach over because..." Luke cut her off by reaching over and changing the channel. "Hey! You can't do that!"

"And why not?" Luke challenged her.

"Because... didn't you just listen to my speech?" Lorelai asked. They all rolled their eyes and sighed.

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They finally made it into the mall, brushing themselves off because it had already started to snow. (As Lorelai had predicted.)

"How long did it take us to get here?" Lorelai asked, shivering from the coldness.

"Umm, after we had to stop at the gas station because you were apparently 'Coffee Deprived', it doesn't take and hour to get to the local mall unless your driving with Lorelai Gilmore and Luke Danes." Rory sighed. "While me and Jess sat back squished in the back seat when it's like two degrees."

"Well, sorry, but with Jess making sarcastic remarks the whole time didn't help." Lorelai pointed at Jess.

"Don't blame this one on me, you're the one that made us come here." Jess stated.

"Can we just shop please?" Luke asked. They all nodded and started walking through the mall. Then, they passed a store that looked like it only had Christmas decorations. It was very festive.

"Oooh! Let's go in there!" Lorelai jumped up and down.

"Stop it, you're drawing attention to yourself." Luke stated.

"Could we _please _go in there? We don't have decorations yet. And we need them for the holiday season..." Lorelai stuck out her bottom lip. Jess rolled his eyes. "Come on." She walked in the store, leaving the others outside of it.

"Do we go after her?" Luke asked.

"Nah, let's just go home..." Before Jess could finish Rory grabbed his arm dragging him into the store. Luke was left outside, looking around then felt an arm grab _him_, it was Lorelai. "Okay, okay, I'm in, let go."

"Okay, well, who knows anything about lights?" Rory asked.

"I got electrocuted by them once!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Okay, you certainly are staying away from electricity." Lorelai just rolled her eyes, and Rory continued. "Luke, go get us lights. And mom, go find the pretty decorations that have nothing to do with electricity. And Jess and I will find some other stuff."

"No fair! I want to find some other stuff!" Lorelai complained.

"Okay."

"What is the other stuff?" She asked. Rory sighed, and ignored her, while she wandered around the store.

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"Well that was a complete waste of time." Luke mumbled. They were walking into the diner now.

"So not true!" Lorelai exclaimed. "We bought all the decorations we needed and all the presents. I think that found something perfect to get my mom..." She smiled wickedly.

"Ugh, mom, you are not giving them a fruitcake!" Rory rolled her eyes.

"Hey, they are going to need something to eat. And what's better than a nice fruitcake? I mean, come on, what else could a person want? It's the perfect Christmas present."

"Oh, great, then I'll get you one." Jess smirked.

"Na ah! I want something super duper cool!" Lorelai crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Like some new expensive jewelry and a new car! Oh and what about..."

"Please shut her up." Luke sighed.

"Jess is the one that got her started." Rory said looking at Jess.

"Well, you deal with her. I'm going upstairs to take a shower and wash the horrible stench of this horrible day off." Jess stated. "Oh, Rory, I think that I have a book that I need to show you."

"Okay." Rory smiled. "I'll go up with him, and I'll meet you at home." Rory said to her mom. "Later." She kissed her mom's cheek and walked upstairs, Jess had left a few seconds before. She opened the door to the apartment and found Jess sitting at the kitchen table. "Hey."

"Hey." Jess smiled. "Umm, I have something for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah and early Christmas present."

"Oh, Jess, you didn't have to do that..."

"No, I wanted to." Jess interrupted her. He took something that looked like a bracelet and tied it around her wrist. It had a key on it.

"It's a key." Rory stated looking at her wrist.

"Yeah, I put it on a bracelet so you wouldn't loose it."

"What's it for?"

"Well, I saw that last time I came over your house you had all your books stashed under the bed and all over the place. So, I got you kind of a safe, it's big. I put it in your room. You can fit all the books that you can't fit on your book shelf there." Jess smiled. "Do you like it?"

"I love it." Rory whispered and sat next to him. "It's really, really sweet..." Rory sighed. "Thank you." She leaned in and kissed him sweetly on the cheek.

"You're welcome."

**A/N: I hope you all liked it. I think that I'm going to do Christmas in the next chapter, and lots of surprises and craziness there. : ) You know the drill, review, review, review!**


	5. Sleepover

**Disclaimer: Yeah. I own everything! (Note to sarcasm)**

**A/N: Hey guys! It's been long. Sorry, but I was on vacation. I put up a note on my profile. But, that doesn't matter now because I'm back and with this faboulus update! And just a warning... Many of you are going to be VERY happy about this chapter. smiles It's nice and long too! Alright, well, read, review and show me how much you love me and the story!**

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Rory woke up bright and early the next morning. It was finally Christmas Eve! Then, she smelled something coming from the kitchen, so she got up and went to see what it was. She found her mom sitting at the table next to Luke _and _Jess. "What the..." Rory drifted off.

"Good morning, babe." Lorelai smiled. "Luke and Jess came over for Christmas breakfast."

"Why?" Rory asked grumpily.

"Because, if we're going to have Christmas dinner together we have to spend the day together. And show them the Christmas spirit." Lorelai cheered. Rory looked at Jess suspiciously.

"Hey, don't look at me. I'm just as innocent as you. It was your mother that dragged me out of my resting place at six in the morning." Jess shrugged. "She started singing Christmas songs, and then we _had _to get out of bed." Luke nodded in agreement.

"Why is it every time you guys come over it has to be in the morning?" Rory mumbled. Jess took amusement in her pajamas, again. "One day, I'm going to come to your apartment and find you with some kind of embarrassing clothing."

"Or no clothing." Jess smirked. Rory felt her cheeks turn beet red.

"No dirtiness before breakfast. That's my only rule." Lorelai smiled. "Oh, hun, you want some santa pancakes?" Lorelai asked, looking at Rory. She nodded. "Jess made them. So I'm not sure if there's some kind of poison in them."

"Hey, you were the one who demanded that I make them. You wouldn't stop ranting about pancakes and how their good food."

"They are." Lorelai shrugged. "All I'm saying is that he might have added something of his own. And not the good kind of something of his own. As in, if you die after eating these pancakes don't say that I didn't warn you. Oh, and I will yell, 'I told you so!' Just for kicks." She smiled. Jess rolled his eyes.

"I'm starving. I'll take my chances." Rory smiled when she took her first bite. "Oh my god! These are so great. When did you become such a cook?" Rory admired Jess. He just shrugged and ate his pancakes.

"Oh my god. I think Jess is about to blush. People, get cameras, this is a once in a lifetime experience!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Ooh, tell him he looks hot. Maybe he will turn really red." Rory just rolled her eyes and so did Jess. Luke just stood by and look amused.

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The whole group walked down the side walk. Lorelai had insisted that they take a holiday walk. Whatever that was. Jess had refused to come, until Rory had told him that if he didn't come she would actually push him into the fire place because there was no way she was going to be left with Lorelai and Luke alone, on this walk. Lorelai walked backwards, smelling the air.

"What the hell are you doing?" Luke asked with a confused look on his face.

"Smelling the air. It smells good. Smell it." Lorelai asked Luke.

"No thank you. I would like to stay sane through this walk." Luke sighed.

"Umm, mom, I promised that I'd go by Dean's before he leaves to Chicago. Is it alright if I leave the group for a little?" Rory asked. Jess hated it that she was going to go meet Dean. He wanted to bail so badly, and she had a boyfriend, so she could bail easily. God, it killed him that she had a boyfriend. But, he would never admit it to anyone.

"Sure. But, don't kiss, you guys will be stuck together. Like in A Christmas Carol when the boy licked a flag pole and his tounge stuck. So, Eskimo kissing only please." Lorelai smiled.

"Thanks." She exclaimed, and left to go meet her boyfriend.

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"Dean." Rory smiled when she found him sitting on his porch. (A/N: Not really sure if Dean has a porch... hmm...) Dean gave her a friendly smile back and went up to greet her with a small peck on the lips. "Sorry if I got here a little later than I promised. Mom made all of us go out for a 'Christmas' walk, I had to threaten Jess to get him to come." She smiled, but Dean's smile turned into a frown when he heard Jess' name.

"Jess? Jess was with you guys?" He asked.

"Umm, yeah." Rory smiled nervously. _'Damn. I thought I wasn't going to mention him. And now we're going to get into this major fight on Christmas Eve.' _She thought. Then, searched her head for an explanation. "Well, I told you that he was coming over for dinner. And you know how mom is... she asked Luke and Jess to spend the day with us... so, he didn't want to come for the walk. And I didn't want to walk _alone_ with mom and Luke."

"You could have called me." Dean exclaimed.

"I didn't want to bother you. Besides, I was coming here anyways. So, why make you take some dumb Christmas walk?"

Dean frowned. "Rory, you know that I don't like hanging out with that guy. He's trouble. You're mom agrees with me, the town agrees with me." Rory shook her head in disbelief.

"He is my friend, Dean."

"He isn't interested in being you're friend, Rory." Dean yelled. "He wants to steal you away from me. And you're mine. Not his'."

"I'm not an object. You can't _own _me." Rory exclaimed. "Why are you so jelous?"

"Me? Jealous of him?" Dean rolled his eyes. Rory sighed.

"Can we please not fight? I came over to exchange gifts. Not so you can yell at me for hanging out with my friends." She stated with venom in her voice. Dean just nodded. "It's Christmas Eve and you're leaving in a half an hour. All I want to do is be with you for a little."

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into this huge fight."

"It's okay." Rory whispered.

"Okay, I got you something." Dean smiled. He picked up some weird present from his porch. It was wrapped very badly, and it had little pieces of orange sticking out. It looked ball shaped. She smiled fakely, and took it. She opened it. And it was a big orange basketball. "Do you like it?"

"It's a basketball." Rory stated.

"Yeah." Dean smiled.

"Umm... thank you?" Rory tried. _'Why would he give me a basketball? I have never shown any positive reaction to a basketball. Ever! Okay, I'm starting to hate today... Except for the fact of Jess' completely sweet present. Wait! Stop! You can not think about Jess that way! I will not allow myself to do that. God, I'm weird.'_ Rory sighed, and tried her hardest to smile.

"You're welcome." He cooed, completely believing her fake smile.

"I got you something too." Rory mumbled. She took out her present. It was neatly wrapped and had a nice, small bow around it. Dean smiled eagerly, then tore off all of the paper, carelessly. He frowned though, when he saw that it was a book. "It's Lord Of The Rings. I knew you loved the movies. So, I got you the books."

"Umm, Rory, I don't really read books." Dean mumbled. "Specially these. They look like they weigh a ton. And it would probably take me, like, more than fifteen minutes to read them."

"Yeah. But, it's fun to read. Specially books that take more than fifteen minutes to read. Unless you're into the whole, 'Good night, moon' kind of thing." Rory exclaimed. "You'll like them. Trust me. I'm an expert in books, and you will love them."

"I already saw the movies."

"I know... but the books are usually better than the movies."

"I don't think so, Rory. But, thanks for the thought." Dean gave the books back to her.

"You're giving my present back to me?" Rory asked, in disbelief.

"I'm not going to use them. So, why keep them? It's a waste of trees... I think." Dean sighed. "The point is. I'm not going to do anything with them... so, you can have them back."

"You're not even going to try to read them?"

"No. I think I'll be okay without trying them."

Suddenly, something just clicked in her brain. Rory got angry, and upset. And she couldn't put on a smile, she couldn't take it anymore! "Here." She shoved the basketball to him. "I don't want it." She huffed. "And... I don't think I want to be you're girlfriend anymore." _'Oh my god, did I just say that?'_

"What?"

"I think that I'm breaking up with you." Rory sighed.

"I'll read the damn books if that's what you want." Dean exclaimed. Rory shook her head. "It's because of him? Right?" Rory gave him a look of disbelief.

"No. It's about us, and how we're two completely different people." Rory yelled. "Bye, Dean." She turned to walk away, but she felt his hands on her. "What are you doing?" She asked. But, he struggled with her, and turned her so they were close. He pushed her into him. "Stop!"

Just then, Jess walked by. And saw this. He ran over and grabbed Rory from him.

"Leave her alone, man." Dean yelled. "She is my girlfriend!"

"I broke up with you, Dean!"

"Shut up, you" He looked at her. "Give her back to me, and maybe I won't hurt her."

"I don't think so." Jess exclaimed, still holding Rory in his arms. "Come on, Rory." They tried to walk away. But, Dean turned him around and punched him in the jaw. Jess held his jaw with his hand. Blood was starting to come out of his mouth. Rory gasped and went over to help him. But, Dean went over to her. Jess let go of his jaw, and grabbed her, so she wouldn't be close to Dean. So, Dean punched him in the stomach. Lorelai and Luke weren't so far behind, and they saw Jess on the floor, bleeding. And Dean pushing Rory into his porch. Lorelai screamed, and Luke ran over and got Dean off of her, punching him.

It sent Dean to the ground. So, he went over to Rory. Who had blood on her hand. "Are you alright?" Luke asked.

"I'm fine. Concentrate on Jess." Rory gasped for breathe. Luke went over to Jess, and Lorelai ran over to Rory. Pulled her into a hug. Dean got up from the ground and looked around. He saw Lorelai and Rory hugging, and Luke and Jess standing in front of them.

"You better stay away from my baby." Lorelai cried.

"Lorelai.." Dean started.

"Don't talk to me. Or Rory, or Luke, or Jess." Lorelai exclaimed. "Understood?" Dean looked furious. "Come on, let's get out of here." They all walked off in the direction of the Gilmore house. Dean just kicked the basketball that was now resting on the ground with fury.

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They all sat around Rory's bed. They had just come back from a trip to the hospital. It turned out that Rory had some deep cuts on her hand, when Dean had pushed her into the porch, she cut herself. Jess had hurt his ribs pretty bad, almost broken. His nose was broken, and his jaw hurt like hell. Rory had insisted for him to lay down on her bed, since the doctor had told him to stay in bed until he healed.

"Do you want water?" Rory asked, worried.

"I'm fine. Now let me get up." Jess pleaded.

"Nope. Sorry, Jess, but you're going to be staying here all Christmas Eve." Lorelai smiled. "Now I'm gonna get that water for you." Jess tried to say something but winced in pain. "You can't speak either." She smirked, and walked out into the kitchen.

"Great. Now I'm being taken away from my freedom of speech. Martin Luther King would have protested to this." Jess sighed.

"Stop talking!" Rory scolded him. And went over with the ice pack, and placed it gently on his jaw. Luke was enjoying this very much, seeing Jess helpless. But, he wanted to hurt Dean really badly for hurting Rory and Jess. "There."

"Are you sure you don't want me to kill Dean for you?" Luke asked. Lorelai entered the room right then.

"Yeah. I second that." Lorelai exclaimed. She set the water next to Jess.

"No." Rory sighed. "I don't want to have more conflict with him then I already have. He was just upset that I broke up with him... it's fine."

"You did not just say that." Jess exclaimed, pushing the ice pack away. "Rory, you can't let him take advantage of you. Then, you forgive him just like that. He almost raped you. He would have if Lorelai and Luke hadn't gotten there when they did."

"He almost raped her?" Lorelai asked.

"No. Mom. Jess is just exaggerating."

"Excuse me, you're handy-capped. You have no say in this. Now, I was asking Jess a question." Lorelai looked at Jess for answers.

"He was forcing himself on her." Jess nodded. Lorelai gasped and got up from her seat, and went over to her purse and got her cell phone out.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"I am calling 911." Lorelai exclaimed. "Dean almost raped you. We should do something about that. You can't just let him get away with it."

"I agree." Luke stated. Rory shook her head and snatched the phone out of her hands.

"No. Please. Don't." Rory was on the verge of tears. "This has already been a crappy Christmas Eve. I don't want to deal with anything else. Jess is hurt. I'm hurt, mentally and physically... I don't want to make a big deal about this. Then, everyone will know. And.. Just... please." She was crying now. Lorelai sighed and went over to her daughter and held her closely. In a tight hug.

"Umm, Luke, why don't you go and make something in the kitchen? Something that we can all eat. It may not be the big Christmas feast... but it will be something." Lorelai whispered, and kissed her daughter's forehead. Luke nodded, but then came back two seconds later frowning.

"You have nothing but Chinese, pizza, and pop tarts. Oh, and coffee, of course." Luke rolled his eyes.

"You can make tons of stuff out of that." Lorelai huffed. She rolled her eyes, then let go of Rory and stood up. "I'll help you. But, please don't ask stupid questions, like 'What's a pizza-rice roll up?' Okay?" Luke looked at her in disbelief, and shook his head. "Jess, take care of Rory while I help, Naked Chef, here with the food." Jess nodded. "Go, hun, go sit next to him. I don't want you to be laying on the floor. Alone." She nodded, and walked over to him, she sat next to him. He scooted over so she would have more space. Lorelai smiled, then was out to help with the food.

They sat in a comfortable silence. Then, Jess sat up more, and purposely dropped his hand on her knee. She suddenly felt sparks of electricity go through her body. She jumped, but he did not move his hand. _'He knows how uncomfortable I am right now... Ugh, damn him and his stupid smirk, and his stupid hand on my stupid leg!'_

"Umm, so how are you feeling?" Rory asked, moving a little as if to get rid of his hand. But no such luck.

"Just as I was five minutes ago." Jess smirked. _'Oh my god, do you see her face? She looks like she's having a heart attack just because I have my hand on her knee. And I'm not moving it until she cracks...' _He thought. Then, started to make little circles with his thumb on her knee cap.

Her heart was beating one hundred miles per hour and she couldn't breathe. _'When are mom and Luke coming back in here! My god, I wish that I could make him stop doing that! But... I kinda don't want to...' _She sighed and Jess just smiled. She just crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly. Then, his hand moved up to her thigh. _'Oh, god... Things are not G in here. If my mom was in here she would throw Jess on his handicapped little ass if she knew the dirty things that are happening here. And the dirty things that I am thinking.'_

"Umm, I read this article about this guy who wanted to rescue dolphins, but he couldn't because he didn't have enough money. But, he went to one of those schools and he raised enough money to rescue the dolphins." She rambled on. "And... It was interesting because... YOU'RE HAND IS ON MY THIGH!" She exclaimed. He smirked.

"Yup." He stated simply.

"And... It's driving me insane."

"Okay." He nodded.

"Remove it."

"Why?"

"Because..." _'Damn him! I don't have a reason. Why don't I have a reason? DAMN! I hate feeling stupid, specially with Jess who is not stupid... he's cute and hot, and reads a lot and his hand is on my thigh!' _Rory huffed.

"Can't think of a reason?" He smirked.

"Yes, I can..." Rory sighed. "I will."

"Okay..." Jess nodded.

"I will." Rory looked at him sternly.

"You already said that."

"I know." Rory stated. "Why is you're hand still on my thigh?" She huffed. He just shrugged. Damn. She hated it when he looked cute when he shrugged. Is that even possible? "Fine." She smirked, she put his hand on his thigh. "We are even." Jess looked at her, surprised. "Hey. I am a private school girl. And everybody knows that private school girls are bad. I even have the red nail polish."

"Wow. Rory Gilmore with red nail polish. I am shocked." He said sarcastically.

"Just because you're a criminal doesn't mean that you can make my red nail polish look small. Because I have always worn clear, until my mom told me about this bad girl business." Rory smiled. Jess looked at her, and then smiled. "Hey, thanks."

"For what?" He asked.

"For saving me from Dean." She smiled. Then, she felt silly. They both still had their hands on each other's thigh. But, she felt comfort. And that was always good for her.

"I couldn't just stand by and let my friend get attacked. Right?" Jess smiled.

"Right." She confirmed. He finally removed his hand from her thigh, and she did the same. They both just stared at each other and smiled. Then, they heard a big boom.

"_I'm okay." _They heard Lorelai yell from the other room. _"Oww. Dammit!"_

"I knew that they couldn't just make a meal without somebody getting hurt." Rory laughed. Jess just rolled his eyes. Then, Lorelai ran into the room with a very excited expression on. Rory and Jess looked at her with a weird expression in return.

"There's a snow storm!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"So?" They both asked at the same time.

"Sleepover!" She shouted.


	6. Fights and Mistletoes

**A/N: Ugh, it's early (for me) and I just woke up. Can't think of anything to say... Oh, yeah, sorry if narco people didn't like the last chapter... but, come on, this is a Literati. Besides, i HATE Dean. No offense. So, I just did what I thought would be best. And I know that Dean was a little OOC... but thats how I had to write him. Anyways, back to my rant of me being sleepy... I'M SLEEPY! Okay, rant over. I know, I'm weird. But, deal with it. lol. Just, remember to review please, and... enjoy the story:P**

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"Sleepover!" Lorelai announced. Both of them looked at each other then back at Lorelai. "Don't give me those looks. You know you want to. It will be so much fun, we can have sleeping bags, and marshmallows. And... I can't really think about anything right now... ooh! Ooh! We can sing camp fire songs.."

"Wait!" Jess interrupted. "Why are we staying here again?"

"Because you can't walk home. You're completely snowed in. Besides, you can't even move, I think it would be best if you stayed here. Trust me. Snow is magical!" Lorelai exclaimed and then ran into the kitchen.

"She has officially lost it." Jess sighed. Rory laughed, she was still on the bed, so she rested her head on the pillow in back of her. "You look tired."

"Well, getting attacked kinda does that to you." Rory yawned. Then, suddenly, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer starting playing on the outside radio. Jess groaned and closed his eyes. "Yeah, my mom tends to get kinda cheery when it's Christmas. She never stops playing Christmas crap and stuff like that."

"I kinda figured." Jess laughed. Luke walked in with a bunch of food on a tray.

"Come on. We're moving the 'feast' into the living room. And, guess what? We're gonna decorate the Christmas tree while we sing, 'Oh, Christmas tree'. If I have to go through this, you do too." Luke then walked out and gestured for them to follow. "Rory, help Jess. I'll be out there with the Christmas Nazi." He walked to the living room.

"Okay, well, let's get you up." Rory sighed.

"You can't carry me."

"I'm not asking to carry you. I'm asking to help you, so you don't break anything else." Rory laughed.

"You have a wound on you're hand. You can't even touch anything with it." Jess stated.

"Don't worry about me, Mariano. Now, do you really want me to carry you, or can you cooperate?" Rory asked, with a grin. Jess nodded. Then, Rory helped him sit up, carefully. Rory looked nervous, but took his hand and helped him up with a small smile. She put her arm around his waist, guiding him into the living room. When they entered, Lorelai and Luke were strangling each other for the control of the radio. "Hey, hey, handicapped in the living room!" Rory exclaimed with a smile. Jess rolled his eyes.

"Good. You made it." Lorelai smiled, and took some pillows and put them on the end of the couch, so he would be more comfortable. She helped Rory and he was soon on the couch, with a bunch of pillows on him. "There. Nice and comfy?"

"If by 'comfy' you mean suffocating in a sea of pillows, umm sure, I'm very comfy." Jess smirked. Lorelai rolled her eyes and then threw a pillow at him. "I don't need any more, thank you." Luke smirked.

"Okay, let's get the festivities started!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Oh, where is my trusty elf?" Lorelai asked, pretending to look around. Rory rolled her eyes.

"Rory the elf is right here." Rory sighed. Luke and Jess laughed at her pain.

"Oh, don't laugh, you're turn will come." Lorelai eyed them. "Now, Rory the elf, you need proper elf ears." Rory pouted, but Lorelai ended up putting on elf ears on her. "You look very cute. Now, both of you need Santa hats." The diner boys groaned. Lorelai placed one Santa hat on each of their heads.

"Okay, I look ridiculous." Luke groaned.

"No, you look very nice." Lorelai smiled, and then noticed what she had just said and blushed. "Umm, I meant... it doesn't look ridiculous... It looks... okay! Well, done with that. Let's move on..."

Jess and Rory looked at each other with questioning looks, but then shrugged.

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They were all now watching A Christmas Story while they drank eggnog. Lorelai kept on drinking it even though she kept on complaining about how disgusting it was. Luke just threw it out when he saw it, and Rory and Jess just left in on the table in front of them.

"Man, I'm stuffed." Rory complained.

"Me too. Blame them!" Lorelai pointed at the guys who were just watching the movie innocently.

"And this is our fault how?" Jess asked.

"I don't know. But, when in doubt always blame the boys. They have cooties. It's in the Rule Book." Lorelai smirked, and Rory just nodded in agreement. Luke and Jess looked confused, and the girls just snickered.

"Do we even want to know?" Luke muttered.

"Nope." They both said.

"That was kinda creepy though." Jess shook his head and sighed. He sighed and realized he was very tired. It had been a long day, and he just wanted to sleep. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, but apparently that wasn't possible in the Gilmore home.

"Uh-oh. Jess needs to go bedy- bye." Lorelai smiled.

"Don't ever say that sentence again unless you go in a time machine back in time, to when I was three. Then you can repeat the sentence." Jess groaned.

"Oh, no, he's getting delusional. Better get him to sleep, Hun." Lorelai smiled. Rory smiled, and nodded. Jess shook his head; he didn't want to get up. He was in a pretty comfortable position.

"I don't want to go to sleep. Sleep is boring." Jess sighed.

"Okay, now you're starting to sound like a three year old." Rory laughed. "So, come on, bed. It's nice. And you will have a lot of energy for tomorrow when we open presents. Now won't that be fun?"

"No." Jess groaned.

"Jess. Come on. Sleep, we all like it here. I'm pretty sure you do too." Rory smiled.

"Yes, he does. He is a lazy slacker most of the day in bed." Luke rolled his eyes.

"Actually, before we put Jess to bed. Rory, can I speak to you for like two minutes in the kitchen?" Lorelai asked. Rory sighed, but nodded. Both girls walked to the kitchen, where Lorelai looked at her daughter. "Houston, we have a problem. What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Rory asked.

"We have boys in our house!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Two boys. And have you seen which boys are in here? Luke and Jess. Luke and Jess! The diner boys are sleeping here! Here, I tell ya!"

"Mom, you are going crazy."

"No, I'm not. You just want to sleep with Jess." Lorelai pointed at Rory.

"What?" Rory exclaimed. "I do NOT want to sleep with Jess. I HAVE to sleep with Jess. He can't take the couch because he is injured and I don't want to take the couch because it is a pretty uncomfortable couch!"

"Yeah, but that leaves me with Luke."

"So?"

"So, he's Luke. And he makes me coffee. And I would have to sleep in the same bed... and I have to... sleep in the same bed with him!"

"Mom."

"Not my fault I don't have a good enough reason!"

"Okay, breathe and listen to me." Rory sighed and pulled her mother into a chair. "Okay, these are our friends. We are going to have to sleep in the same bed as us... which means that we have to be cool about it. They are going to be nervous too, and you freaking out is not going to make anything better."

"I know." Lorelai sighed.

"This is only for one night. One night. I think we can survive one night."

"I guess we can... but it's just that this is the first time a guy has slept over since Max." Lorelai stated. "It's weird... because last time Max slept here, we were getting married. And me and Luke aren't getting married, but we still have to sleep together. Not in the dirty sense of the way, but it's still pretty big. I haven't even seen Luke in anything but that stupid flannel shirt." Lorelai sighed. "I know, this sounds weird... but-,"

"No, mom, it completely does not sound weird. The whole Max thing was something big for you. And it wasn't such a long time ago... you are allowed to feel weird." Rory smiled. "But you have to be a big girl and get over him and have a nice night with Luke."

"Me and Luke aren't even together."

"Maybe that will change."

"God, I haven't even thought of him like that." Lorelai said. "I mean he's Luke. The diner's Luke! Man, tonight is kind of a big night for me. I need to go to bed." Rory laughed.

"Okay, well, we can go to bed. And sleep. Then, we can talk about it tomorrow when we're NOT sleep deprived." Rory smiled, and started to get up, but Lorelai pulled her back down.

"Houston we have another problem." Lorelai stated. Rory rolled her eyes. "I still don't think I'm comfortable with you and Jess sleeping in the same bed. Even if you say you're just friends and all that crap."

"Mom..."

"No, Rory, I have to pull my mom card out on this one." Lorelai sighed. "I don't trust Jess. And you know this. But, you insist on giving him a chance and being nice to him. And I think I have been doing a pretty good job with that."

"You have."

"Okay. But, this is something huge. You have never slept in the same bed as another boy. You are at that age where you're head is all weird, and it scares me kid. Because Jess isn't exactly the best kid for you to be hanging out with. And now, you have this crazy crush on him–,"

"I do not have a crush on him!"

"Rory." Lorelai looked at her daughter. "It doesn't matter if you don't wanna admit to it or whatever. But you are broken up with Dean, right?"

"Yeah. Obviously."

"Okay. Well, now you're single. And Jess is single. So, there's nothing stopping you from... I don't know. Whatever. But, you have to be careful with him. Really careful."

"I am."

"No, like boy in the plastic bubble kind of careful." Lorelai smiled. "I don't care if you think that you can handle being in the same bed with this guy because I don't think you can. Jess is... just Jess. And you never know with him. All I'm saying is trust me when I say that I will be watching both of you. So, no hanky panky. No funny business. Nothing. Nada. Zippo."

"I get it, mom." Rory rolled her eyes.

"Good." Lorelai sighed. "Now, let's get back out there before Jess falls asleep completely."

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Rory exited the bathroom; she had just taken a shower and changed into her pajamas. She found Jess sitting on her bed, a smirk playing on his face. She just rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on, you have seen me in pajamas before. You can not be surprised." Rory stated, and sat down next to him. "Hey, you're taking up all of the room. And I take up space. I am a very active sleeper."

"How can you be an active sleeper?" Jess rolled his eyes. "If you sleep, you sleep. You can't be an _active _sleeper. Like you claim to be." Rory just shrugged and settled in her bed, but slightly shoved him with her leg.

"I need my space. I am a guy."

"What does that have anything to do with this?"

"I don't know. It seemed appropriate at the time." Jess shrugged. "So come on, I'm injured, I need my space."

"Hey, I'm injured too! Look at the hand, mister."

"Yeah. How is the hand by the way?"

"Not so good. Hurts a little. But,it's supposed to. I mean, I did get pushed into a porch. I was bound to get hurt." Rory smiled. But Jess looked worried. She had never seen him worried before... it was kind of cute. What was she thinking! This was Jess she was talking about.

"Rory. I just want you to know... that you didn't deserve what Dean did to you. Just because you broke up with him, didn't mean that he had to get so angry. And... do what he did to us." Jess stated. "I knew you weren't happy in the relationship... I just didn't say anything. Didn't seem like you wanted my opinion."

"Jess. I always want you're opinion... Really. You're my friend. You were just looking after me... right?"

"Yeah." Jess whispered. "Because you deserve someone better." Rory smiled. "And Dean wasn't the best... you're bound to find someone great. Really great." Their heads were now moving slightly forward and they were _very _close. "Rory." He breathed. She slightly smiled, and moved her head forward... her breathe was tingling his neck and she was in the most comfortable position ever. Jess was about to move slightly closer when...

"Yup, Rory and Jess are right in here–," Lorelai exclaimed, but stopped when she saw that she was apparently interrupting something. Both of the teens moved away from each other. "Right in here... very close to each other. Hold on, Chris." Rory noticed that Lorelai had a phone up to her ear. She was apparently talking to Rory's father. "Umm, Rory, you're dad's on the line. He wants to make sure you're alright." She put her hand on the speaker.

"Right. Okay. Thanks." She smiled nervously, and stood up to take the phone from her mom. She put the phone to her ear. "Hey, dad. Yeah, I'm fine..." She drifted off, moving to the other room, leaving Lorelai and Jess to stand/sit in silence.

"What were you guys doing in here?" Lorelai jumped right into the topic, rather loudly.

"Baking a cake." Jess replied sarcastically.

"Okay Jess, this is no time for your sarcasm. Specially when you were just corrupting my daughter in there!" Lorelai exclaimed and closed the door so Rory wouldn't hear her.

"Right. Corrupting her." Jess rolled his eyes. "Rory doesn't need to be corrupted. She has her own mind. She can make decisions. She is smart and you have no right to judge what she does."

"I might have some say in it since I gave birth to her!" Lorelai yelled. "And who are you to be judging what I can and can't do? All I know is that you are going to ruin my daughter and I cannot just stand by and let you do that."

"Ruin? She isn't a drink that can be ruined. Like I said before, she has her own mind. She can ruin herself, she doesn't need my help."

"Whatever. All I know is that you are no good, and I don't want you hanging out with my daughter. Period."

"That will be kinda hard since _she _likes _me._"

"You like her too."

"Yeah. So?"

"Rory likes you and you like her back. Which means that you guys will end up together and that can only end up with you hurting her and her crying in bed!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Why are you so certain that I am no good?"

"Because you _are _no good!"

"You know what? I didn't come here so you could yell at me and I don't care if you don't approve. Rory and I can do whatever the hell we want and you don't have to give us you're blessing! Because frankly, I don't care!" Jess exclaimed.

Lorelai shook her head, she was angry. Then, Rory came into the room. She saw the tension between them and guessed that something happened.

"Are we okay in here?" She asked.

"Fine. Just fine." Lorelai exclaimed. "Now, I'm going to bed. Goodnight, hon. Love ya." She kissed the top of her daughter's head and exited the room, slamming the door.

"Umm, what happened in here?" Rory asked.

"Nothing." Jess sighed. "Let's go to bed. My jaw hurts like hell." Rory nodded slightly, and crawled into bed.

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They all sat in the living room, watching A Christmas Story_ again. _Much to Luke and Jess' protest, but Lorelai simply just shrugged it off. Lorelai and Jess had not said one word to each other since the night before and Rory was starting to catch that. Luke was just stuck in the middle, not knowing anything that happened.

Finally, the movie ended and Lorelai shut the T.V. off.

"Alright. Well, Lorelai, it has stopped snowing and I think that Jess and I should get going. I do have to open the diner." Luke stated.

"But what about the presents?" Lorelai protested.

"You guys can bring them over tonight when you come for dinner." Luke smiled, and stood up. Jess, Rory, and Lorelai just stayed put. "Umm, Jess, well, say goodbye to Rory, then meet me at the diner. I'm gonna head off now."

"Bye, Luke!" Rory and Lorelai shouted after him.

"Umm, Rory, I'll be upstairs, I'm gonna get changed, then we could head off and do whatever today." Lorelai sighed, and ran upstairs. Rory and Jess were left sitting on the couch alone.

"Well I guess I have to go. I should go." Jess sighed, getting up.

"Yeah. I'll walk you out." Rory smiled. They both walked to the door. Jess smirked for some reason and Rory gave him a questioning look. He just pointed up to the doorframe. There hanging, was mistletoe covered with snow.

"It _is _tradition." He smiled.

"Okay." Rory exhaled. She took a step towards him and smiled. He pulled her closer. Their lips met and a spark came through their bodies. It was a perfect kiss. Her lips felt warm against his' and she smiled against his lips. They pulled away, not really wanting to do so. Jess smiled. He never smiled, so it was a special occasion. She laughed and put her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. Surprisingly, he hugged back. They just stood in each other's embrace. Soon, reality caught up with them and they pulled away.

"Merry Christmas, Rory." Jess stated.

"Merry Christmas." Rory smiled. He then walked away slowly and she just watched him go, leaning against the doorframe. Life was really good.

**A/N: How did ya like it? Oh, i forgot to say, that when I said 'A Christmas Carol' in the first few chapters, it was supposed to be 'A Christmas Story', I changed it in this chapter, but thank you to **the Desert Fox **for pointing it out. Review!**


	7. Boundaries

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**A/N: Lorelai's a little OOC in this chapter. But, deal with it. Read!**

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"Oh my god!" Lane squealed. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"

"Stop it. You're attracting attention to us." Rory whispered. She shifted in her seat on the bench that they were currently sitting on.

"You kissed the bad boy!" Lane stated the obvious.

"Stop calling him that... he's not 'the bad boy', his name is Jess and I would appreciate it if you call him by his actual name." Rory said, annoyed. She still hadn't told her mom, it was only the morning after it happened. Or yet, the day after. And she still hadn't gone to Luke's.

"Wow. You kissed Jess? How is this possible? I mean, we all knew you had a thing for him... but, we never thought that you would actually kiss him."

"Who is 'we?'"

"The town." She rolled her eyes.

"The town? Why is the town interested in this anyways?"

"There was a poll."

"What?" Rory exclaimed.

"Yeah... a poll of who would win you're heart. Would you stay with sweet reliable Dean, or would you go for Jess, the rebel without a cause. I think Kirk started it up... yeah. I'm certain of it." Lane nodded.

"How do you know about this poll?" Rory raised an eyebrow at her.

"Because..." Lane looked guilty.

"Lane!" Rory whined. "You put money in my happiness!"

"Hey, don't be so angry... I'll share the money with you if you want."

"What?"

"I voted for Jess."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because... although you look like the innocent little princess girl, you want a bad boy. Actually, let me rephrase that... you need a bad boy. And... although I have nothing against Dean... I saw it with my own eyes, he was not making you happy." Lane sighed. "Plus, in my opinion, Jess is hotter."

"Lane!" Rory blushed.

"So... are you two together now or what?" Lane asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"I have no idea... I mean, it was a mistletoe kiss. I don't even know if it meant anything to him." Rory shrugged. "Plus, he has like broken ribs and stuff... I don't know if I can phase him when he's that pathetic." Lane giggled.

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"Where is he?" Lorelai stormed into the diner. Luke jumped, then turned to Lorelai. "Huh? Where is he? I asked you a question dammit!" Luke raised an eyebrow at her. "Tell me. Now."

"Lorelai... what? Who?"

"Don't act dumb. Tell me where your punk nephew is! Now!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"He can't work because of his injuries... so, he's upstairs. Why?" Luke asked. Lorelai stayed quiet for a second, as if thinking about something then frowned. "Lorelai! Lorelai!" Lorelai ignored him and ran upstairs, flung the door open to their apartment.

"Lorelai?" Jess questioned, he was laying down in his bed when she came in. He turned down his music and raised an eyebrow at her.

"What did you do?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"What?"

"You did something because she is avoiding the diner. And she doesn't avoid the diner unless you and her are in a fight or something." She sighed. "What happened between you two?" She demanded.

"Nothing."

"Something did."

"Nothing."

"Jess."

"Nothing."

"Stop answering 'nothing' unless you want to be ducktaped to that chair over there while I tell you very bad things about the world." Lorelai crossed her arms over her chest. "Now, tell me now."

"I can't."

"Why the hell not?"

"Why are you so mad when you don't even know what happened? Huh?"

"All I know is that something happened between you two. And I think I deserve to know, since I she did come out of my–,"

"Stop there." Jess interrupted.

"I want to know, Jess."

"Huh. Learn something new every day." Jess smirked. He looked down at his book. Lorelai snatched the book out of his hands and huffed. "Give me my book back, please." Lorelai shook his head. "Lorelai, please."

"Well, since you said please I won't kick your ass as hard."

"Whatever. I have no time to be arguing about this with you. If you want to know so bad, why don't you ask Rory?" Jess asked, harshly. "Oh, that's right... Rory won't talk to you about me because your being hard headed and won't listen to her. Specially when she has something important to say."

"Stop it." Lorelai felt tears behind her eyes.

"You say that you're the cool mom that's okay with everything. Well, from what I've heard you are being more like Rory's grandmother than yourself."

"Shut up." Lorelai exclaimed. "I am just trying to–,"

"Protect her. I heard." Jess rolled his eyes.

"You don't even care about her. To you this whole town is just a game. And I'm trying to keep her away so she doesn't have to deal with this. You are a screwed up kid who has issues. But, I do not want those problems to be my daughter's problems."

"So, your going to lock her in her room and throw away the key?"

"If it helps, yes. I will. Because I care about her and I want the best for her..."

"And what's that? Dean? Did ya see how that ended up?" Jess shook his head in disbelief.

"You have no idea what your talking about."

"Sure I don't. Whatever. Just, go away and leave me alone." Jess turned up his music as loud as possible, and leaned against the head of the bed. "You know you're way to the door."

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Rory smiled when she entered her house. She had just had a full conversation with Lane in her closet and she was exhausted. She made her way up the stairs and into Lorelai's room. She found her mom sitting on the bed, Rory smiled and sat next to her.

"Hey sweets." Lorelai returned the smile. "How was your day?" She asked, patting her daughter's lap.

"Short. Since it has only been the morning." Rory sighed. "But, I was thinking of taking a shower and then heading to Luke's. I'm starving."

"You can't."

"Take a shower? Umm, mom, I hate to say this but I think I really strongly disagree with you on that subject. People will have to stay three feet from me if I don't get cleaned up soon."

"You can't go to Luke's."

"I disagree on you on that matter too." Rory raised an eyebrow at her asking for an explanation, but she got none. "Oh, did you have a fight with Luke or something?"

"No, no. Jess is in Luke's."

"Uh, yeah, I kinda knew that, mom." Rory looked at her mother strangely.

"Yeah, well, since he's there, you kinda can't go to Luke's." Lorelai tried to explain.

"What?"

"Can't go to Luke's. Ever."

"The queen of coffee is giving up Luke's?"

"Nope. You are. You're giving up Luke's _and _seeing Jess."

"What?" Rory exclaimed.

"You heard me."

"Am I actually hearing you forbidding me to see Jess?" Rory asked, eyebrows raised. Lorelai nodded. "Y-ou... you can't... you can't do that." She choked out. Lorelai sighed, then stood up.

"I have to, Rory, this guy is trouble. If you would have seen the way he spoke to me–,"

"He spoke to you? When did you guys speak?"

"This morning when I went for breakfast." Lorelai replied. "But, that's beside the point. I can't allow you to see Jess. Period. I know it sounds horrible and all, but come on, we can find you another boyfriend. It will be fine."

"Are you hearing how crazy you are sounding?"

"Rory..."

"I mean, I can't believe that after all these years of trust and stuff like that you would do this. Just because he isn't nice to you, and you don't want someone out-witting you every single day, now your not allowing me seeing somebody that I truly care about!" Rory yelled.

"Rory, you don't understand the situation."

"No, I don't think I do. Tell me the situation, _mother._" Rory crossed her arms over her chest.

"You two are too different. Both of you come from different worlds. Jess is screwed up right now. You can't deal with all that stuff. He is just going to hurt you at the end, and I am going to have to end up picking up all the pieces." Lorelai yelled. "He doesn't care about you, Rory. This is all one big game to him, and I am trying to protect you because I don't want you in this mess."

"You are completely insane!"

"Guys like him only hold you back from your plans. I can't have that. Just like me, I want you to have a better life than me! I ended up getting pregnant because some guy. And people told me I threw my life away."

"So this is what it comes back to, huh? I am just the big mistake that held you back from your big dreams. Thanks for making me feel so special." Rory said sarcastically.

"Rory, that's not what I said."

"You know what? I don't want to talk to you right now." Rory huffed.

"All I know is that you can't see Jess anymore. And that's final!"

"Yeah. Let's see if that happens." Rory felt tears threaten to fall.

"It is going to happen because I am your mother and what I say goes."

"Really? You're my mother?" Rory shook her head. "Nope. I don't think you are. My mother loved me and actually cared about my happiness. So, nope, you are definitely not my mother!"

"Rory–,"

"Don't talk to me." Rory stormed out of the room and ran downstairs.

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Rory sat on her bed, upset. Music blasting through the room. She heard a knock on her door but tried to ignore it. It was a Sunday morning and she was pretty sure that it was her mom trying to talk to her. Then, she saw the door open and Lorelai walk in and turn down the music.

"Come on." She said lightly.

"What?" Rory asked in disbelief.

"Don't you want breakfast? We could go to Weston's. They have good pastries there." Lorelai crossed her arms against her chest.

"No thanks." Rory said coldly. "Actually, I'm going to Luke's."

"No your not."

"Wanna bet?"

"We can't have this argument again today again, Rory. I told you something, you don't ignore it! I am your mother and what I say you have to do. Too bad if you don't like it or if it makes you angry. Tough."

"I'm leaving." Rory stood up. "I'll do what you say... I won't go to Luke's, but if you feel like standing by this, I am not speaking to you. Ever."

"I'm your mom."

"I'm tired of hearing you constantly throwing that in my face. I get it, move on." Rory muttered. "Now, if you mind. I need some time for myself. Or are you against that too?" She asked smartly. Not even bothering to look at her mother.

"I'll be at the Inn. Call if you need me."

"Doubt it."

"Bye." She said coldly, and ran out of the room, slamming the door.

Rory sighed, she needed to talk to Jess, but she needed a way that her mom wouldn't find out. After all, she was 'forbidden' to see him ever again. She took out a piece of paper from her desk. Aha! She found what she was looking for.

_My screen name: f1ght1nG2survive_

_I.M. me if you need anything._

_Jess._

Rory smiled and opened her laptop. She signed on to her screen name and bit her lip. To her surprise, Jess wasn't at work. He was on.

SmaLLt0wng1rL66: Hey!

f1ght1nG2survive: Rory?

SmaLLt0wng1rL66: Hi Jess.

f1ght1nG2survive: Hey. How come your online? I would have thought that you would be here, eating. It is breakfast time, ya know.

SmaLLt0wng1rL66: I can't.

f1ght1nG2survive: Why? Are you sick?

SmaLLt0wng1rL66: My mom kinda... told me that I can't go to the diner anymore... or see you.

f1ght1nG2survive: WHAT?

SmaLLt0wng1rL66: I'm sorry.

f1ght1nG2survive: Don't be sorry.

f1ght1nG2survive: You didn't do this...your mom did. I don't blame her. She doesn't want me to _ruin _you. You know that I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, right?

SmaLLt0wng1rL66: Of course I do, Jess. But, she's not right...I don't believe her. I want to see you. I don't know what to do...I hate her right now. She has never acted this way...but now? I don't know..

f1ght1nG2survive: Rory, you can't see me anymore. I understand. It's okay. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine.

SmaLLt0wng1rL66: But... Jess, what about me? I want to see you...I mean, we kissed... not that it meant anything to you... but... did it?

SmaLLt0wng1rL66: Jess? Are you there?

_f1ght1nG2survive has signed off_

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**A/N: I'm sorry. This isn't as long as I would have wanted it to do. But, frankly, I dont feel like I got enough reviews for my last chapter. And i'm threating not to update if I don't get enough for this one. I know I'm being unpleasant, but I'm pissed off.**

**I don't understand why people can't take five minutes to review. Just, please. I'm sorry for being mean. You all know I love you. Another update comes if you press that button.**

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	8. Sneaking Around

**A/N: Wow. I was so happy when i saw all of those reviews in my mailbox. Thank you soooo much for all of your kind words! I would have gotten this up earlier, but I had to BETA this myself. So, I apologize in advance, if there are many mistakes. keep up with the reviews. thank you!**

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Rory slammed her computer shut in frustration, she couldn't believe that Jess would be afraid of confrontation, specially over the internet. She didn't understand him sometimes, he was just a big blur to her. She sighed crossing her arms over her chest, this day wasn't getting any better. She tried to think of something that would keep her mind off of him, but she ended up picking up Howl and reading his notes in the margin.

The ring of the doorbell got her head out of the book, she rushed to the door and opened it to show Jess standing on the other side.

"Jess, what are you–," He cut her off by placing his lips on her's. She was confused for like a second, then placed her hands around his neck to deepen the kiss. She ran her hands through his hair and that was when he pulled away slightly. She gave him a questioning look. "Umm, come in." She choked out. Jess nodded, closing the door for her. "Uh, let's sit." Rory sat on the couch, and Jess sat on the chair in front of it.

"Sorry for the greeting." Jess smirked nervously.

"No problem... it was umm, good. Not that–, but, umm... uh, can I shut up now?" Rory bit her lip. Jess groaned, putting his head in his hands. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk about _this _in person. And then, umm, you stood there looking like I don't know, but I suddenly felt the urge to kiss you... and well, here we are." Jess stated. Rory nodded nervously. "Uh, this is kind of awkward."

"Doesn't have to be. You wanna sit by me?" She patted the seat next to her. He nodded and did as he was told. "I just want you to know... the kiss in there, was good, not in a dirty way though. I am glad we kissed, let's put it that way." She whispered.

"Why are you whispering?"

"Don't know... I thought maybe the conversation called for it." Rory shrugged, Jess smirked, and moved a little closer to her. "You know, you're not making the situation much better by sitting here... close. To me."

He smirked, and raised an eyebrow at her. He took a little bit of hair that was in her eyes and smiled. "Can I kiss you?"

"Oh my god, you're so cheesy."

"Can I, Ms. Gilmore?"

"Sure, Mr. Mariano." Next thing they both knew, Rory was laying underneath Jess who was kissing her passionately, and hungrily. He started to kiss down her neck, and she bit her lip. She pulled away slightly. "What was that?" She sat back up.

"You really didn't know what that was?" Jess smirked.

"No, I mean, Jess! You are frustrating me..." Rory drifted off.

"Sorry. But, never call me Mr. Mariano again unless you another reaction like that. You say it really, really well." Jess said still smirking.

"How can you say a name well?"

"I don't know... but you do." They stayed silent for a couple of seconds until Rory spoke.

"I like you." Rory smiled.

"Hey, you stole my chick flick line!" Jess whined fakely. Rory rolled her eyes but looked at her with the 'you know you wanna tell me' face. "I don't wanna say it... it will sound sooo idiotic and cheesy." Rory put out her bottom lip. "Rory..."

"I'll give you a kiss." She bribed.

"Ugh, fine. I like you too." He rolled his eyes. Rory's eyes lit up and she leaned foward to give him a kiss filled with joy. They broke apart once they heard someone pull into the driveway. "Who's that?"

"Oh no, it's my mom... she probably came home early to check on me." Rory groaned. "Umm, come on." She took his hand and pushed him into the bedroom. "Get under the bed. Now!" He did as he was told, except he stuck his head out. "Don't come out until I tell you. Now, stick you're head back in."

"Ugh, fine. But, you owe me." Jess smirked, hiding back under the bed.

"Rory." Lorelai entered her daughter's bedroom to find Rory sitting on her bed. "Hey hon. I just wanna talk about _this._ I really don't want you to be mad at me because of my decision." Rory nodded, not really trusting herself to say anything since she was nervous because she was sitting on the bed that Jess was under. "Well, say something honey."

"Umm, yeah, I agree. I don't wanna fight anymore." She made herself say. Lorelai smiled, although she felt that something was wrong. She hugged her daughter tightly. "Mom. I have thought of something... I still wanna go to Luke's, I won't see Jess. But, I still want to go to Luke's."

"Sweetie–,"

"No. It's my final decision. Please. Just... I know you hate Jess, and I respect that. But, please, don't take me away from Luke. It wouldn't be fair."

"I will only agree to this if you completely stay away from Jess."

"I promise." Rory bit her lip. "Promise." She whispered, almost to herself.

"Great... so, we'll go to Luke's for dinner then?" Lorelai asked.

"Sure. Thanks, mom." Rory forced a smile. Lorelai nodded and hugged her daughter again. She smiled and left the room, closing the door. Rory let out a long sigh, and Jess came out of his hiding place. Rory wouldn't meet his eyes, and he just sat next to her. "I don't want to stop seeing you." Rory said straight out.

"But, you're mom said–,"

"I don't care. I want to see you even if it means sneaking around just to see you." Rory put her hand over his hand. "I like you... a lot. And I want to date you, I want you to be my boyfriend. But, that won't happen unless my mom approves, and she doesn't."

"So, what? We just sneak around everywhere until when, Rory? How is this supposed to work?"

"Just for now. Please, Jess. I don't want to loose you. Please." Rory gave him sad eyes. He sighed and nodded. She gasped excitedly and gave him a tight hug. "I owe you so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"So... we're together now?"

"Yes." She confirmed.

Jess smirked and kissed her sweetly, then they saw someone start to turn the knob, Rory flipped him, so he landed on the other side of the bed where anyone who entered couldn't see him. She heard a slight 'oww', and her mom entered her room.

"Ready yet?" She asked.

"Uh, not yet." Rory stated nervously.

"Umm, are you sure you're okay? You look kinda pale..." Lorelai drifted off when she saw gloves on Rory's bed that weren't her's. "Who's gloves are those? They aren't mine or yours." She eyed her daughter suspiciously. "They look like the one's Jess has."

"Oh, umm, they are Lane's." She covered up lamely. "Umm, there is this new fashion where you wear guys' gloves because... they keep you nice and warm. And... it's like a Jess fashion. I think that one day he will have his own clothing line." Rory bit her lip.

"Try again."

"He left them here at Christmas?" She tried.

"Good. You can bring them to him when we go to the diner... no more than five minute talk, okay?" Lorelai asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"Okay, well, meet me out there sweets. I don't know what's taking you so long... but, doesn't matter. Just meet me there." Lorelai frowned as she closed the door on her way out of the room.

"I'm sooo sorry!" Rory exclaimed, bending over to see Jess. He stood up. "So, so, so sorry! You have no idea. I didn't mean to push you like that."

"I am not liking this." Jess mumbled. Rory bit her lip but kissed him lightly. "Ugh, we better get going before Lorelai comes in here again and I get thrown out the window." Rory smiled.

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**A/N: I know, it's short. I don't think it's that good either...but, let me know what you think. I hope you enjoyed it. Give me your thoughts by reviewing!**


	9. Lemon Coke Thingy

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews everyone, you rock. These comments make my writing better, and give me an actual reason to put some effort into the chapter. :P I hope that everyone likes this chapter as the last one, andplease remember to review!

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Rory sat in her assigned seat in her English class. Mr. Medina was reciting poetry and she was spacing out, looking out the window. She couldn't keep her mind of off Jess, especially after that morning that they shared and their plan, how they made a plan. Together. She had only seen him in the diner working after that. Mainly, because Lorelai pretty much wanted to spend all her free time with her daughter. Rory hated it, but she needed to keep up with the act if she was going to be able to go to the diner.

'_Since when is my mom so strict? Just because I want to see Jess doesn't mean that I'm going to ruin my whole life! Ugh, she frustrates me now. She is so untrusting. Well, she kinda has a reason to be...since, I'm seeing Jess behind her back–,'_

"Ms. Gilmore." Mr. Medina's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Uh, yeah?" She snapped out of it, sitting up straight.

"Well, I just read a three page poem and you didn't seem to be listening at all the whole time. Is there something through that window that is more interesting than this class? Because I'm sure that your fellow students would love to know."

The whole class snickered and she felt her cheeks turning bright red.

She shook her head, embarrassed. "Sorry, Mr. Medina. I just got distracted. It won't happen again." Rory bit her lip, sinking in her chair.

"Alright, well here. Read this over the weekend." He set a little piece of paper down, it had a name of a poem she was supposed to read. She groaned slightly, but nodded. "Is that a problem, Ms. Gilmore?"

"Not at all, Mr. Medina." Rory crossed her arms over her chest.

"Thank you, now we can all continue the class..."

The rest of the time she didn't even bother to pay attention anymore. She didn't know what had gotten into Max. She knew it was because of the wedding being called off, but that was a long time ago and she didn't want to have to suck up to him just because he might hate her family. Which she doubted he did, especially after the talk they had after she interviewed him. Something was bothering him, but she couldn't place it.

The bell soon rang and she gathered her books. When she reached her locker, she was surprised that Paris was there. Maybe waiting for her? She didn't know. So, she just ignored her while she put her books away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Paris asked.

"Are you stalking me or something?" Rory frowned, taking out some books that she wanted to read on the bus ride home. She was glad that she had finished the day, but not so happy that Paris and her had to talk.

"I'm in Mr. Medina's class with you." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah, forgot."

"Right." Paris sighed. "What was going on in there? You were completely focused on the window the entire time. Even after Mr. Medina told you to pay attention. Boy trouble?"

"None of your business."

"I thought we were _friendly."_

"Yes, but I rather not discuss this situation with you. Specially when I haven't figured it all out yet myself." Rory nodded.

"Is it farmer boy?"

"Me and Dean broke up, Paris."

"About time. That guy was getting pretty damn clingy. And you were completely miserable the whole time you were with him." Paris stated. "Besides, while you were looking at the window, you were smiling. And in a really freaky way too. So, I guessed it wasn't farmer boy."

"Dean." Rory corrected.

"Who is it?"

"What?" She asked, annoyed.

"Who is the guy that has you smiling like an idiot all day?"

"Jess."

"Ah, finally."

"Paris, how do you know so much about my love life?" Rory exclaimed.

"Remember, we're 'friendly.'" She used air quotes.

"You know, when you do that it freaks me out." Rory sighed, slamming her locker and picking up her backpack from the floor. "See you on Monday. Bye Paris." She exhaled when she was about three feet away from her. She did not want to deal with Paris that day, and she still had to. Well, she practically had to every day of her life. Which she wasn't too 'happy' about.

When she reached the outside of Chilton, her frown turned into a smile. She couldn't believe what she saw. Jess was standing there, leaning against Luke's truck with a cup of coffee in hand. She smiled, ran over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. Almost causing for him to fall over.

"I take it you're glad to see me." Jess chuckled.

"Of course." Rory said as she pulled away. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was in the neighborhood–,"

"You were in Hartford?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Fine, you got me. I just figured that you would be thirsty, so I brought you some coffee." Jess smirked. "And since I'm already here...why don't you take a ride with me instead of going on the smelly bus?"

"Best offer anyone has given me all day." Rory smiled, then focused on the cup of coffee in his hand. "Give me my coffee."

"Hm. Demanding." Jess handed her the cup of coffee, which she took a sip of immediately. "So, we going or what?" She nodded and they both got into the truck. He drove out of the parking lot and into the street. But she noticed that it wasn't the way to Stars Hollow.

"Hey, where are we going?" Rory asked.

"We are going on a lunch date."

"Lunch date?"

"Yes. Isn't that what boyfriends do for their girlfriends? Take them out to lunch?" He smirked, turning on the radio softly.

"You're taking me out to lunch?" Rory asked excitedly.

"Yep."

Rory smiled. She was happy. Wherever he was taking her would be better than facing her mom in Stars Hollow. Going out with Jess would be better than anything in Stars Hollow. Especially away from the wondering eyes of the town people.

"Hey, I forgot to ask...how's you're hand?" Jess asked, referring to the injury that she had gained that morning with Dean.

"We removed the bandage because I didn't want anyone at school asking about it." Rory sighed. "But it's fine. What about your broken nose, ribs, and jaw?" She asked, worried.

"Okay."

"You know, you shouldn't be out here like this. You could hurt yourself. And I don't want that." Rory stated. He just shrugged. "I am sorry about all that...I mean, look at you, you have a bandage on you're nose, and various parts of your body hurt."

"It's not your fault."

"It is. If I hadn't broken up with him like that, you wouldn't be injured."

"Don't say that, Rory. You were right to break up with him...plus, imagine what could have happened if I wasn't there. You could have been really hurt. And I _really _don't want that."

"Yeah, but–,"

"Not buts..."

"I wish you would at least let me nurse you. Take care of you." Rory suggested.

Jess chuckled. "That would be nice except for the whole fact that we have no time for you to be nursing me. Plus, Luke and Lorelai are everywhere." He sighed. Rory officially felt bad, didn't want to keep her relationship with Jess a secret and didn't want to make him feel bad...or make herself feel bad... if that made any sense. Then, she remembered something.

"Oh, crap." She cursed, this made Jess laugh. "I have to call my mom."

"Why?" Jess smirked, already knowing the answer.

"So she doesn't think I got attacked by a mob. I was supposed to meet her at Luke's for lunch."

"Blow her off."

"Right. Like it's that simple." Rory rolled her eyes. He just shrugged. "You are not being very helpful." She huffed. "Uh, pass me my phone so I can call her please." He did as he was told, and watched as she dialed her mother's number.

"Offspring!" Lorelai exclaimed, greeting her daughter.

"Hey mom."

"I've been waiting here for ten minutes. And I had three cups of coffee in those ten minutes. But, doesn't matter cause you are on your way, right?" She sounded hopeful.

"Actually, n-n-no…" Rory stuttered.

"Why?"

"Well, Paris held me up after school...and she's having a meltdown about a quiz that we have to study for. So, I'm at her house so we can have some quality girl time, and study time. It's the same thing with Paris." She made an excuse quickly.

"Ah, that Paris. Can't live with her and can't... Hmm..yep, that's about it. Can't live with her." Lorelai stated, taking a sip of her coffee. "So, when do you think you'll be home?"

"I don't know...depends on how well we, uh, study."

"What was that 'uh'?"

"What uh?"

"The 'uh'."

"Okay, mom, you're getting delusional. I have to go now."

"Do you, _uh, _have to go, or do you just have to go?" Lorelai mocked.

"Be nice."

"Sorry. Bye, kid." Lorelai chuckled. She closed her cell phone and put it away in her purse just when Luke came over to her. She stuffed it in there, but Luke saw. "Hey, Lucas."

"No cell phones." He pointed to the sign. "And no calling me Lucas. You're already driving me crazy and it's only been a few seconds."

"Yeah well, I have that gift." Lorelai smirked, taking a sip of her coffee. "Hey, another coffee and...some lemon pie, plus a burger, and a cherry coke." He shook his head in disgust.

"Number 1) No coffee, 2) There is no more Lemon Pie, 3) I'm not cooking you so much food, and 4) What the hell is a cherry coke? And don't answer that because in response you'll only get me flipping you off." Luke mumbled.

"Woah. Hello, Mr. Attitude." Lorelai held her hands up in fake surrender. "Can I do the whole counting thing too?" She asked in a childish voice.

"I have better things to do with my–,"

"1) Ha! No coffee, like that's even possible. 2) Lemon Pie is for Rory. 3) I am a paying customer, I get to say how much food you cook me unless you want me to never come back again..."

"Actually–,"

"Shut up." She rolled her eyes. "4) You're only supposed to go to three." She smiled sweetly. "Oh yeah, and number five is: How the hell do you _not _know what a cherry coke is?"

"I am 100 sure that I don't even want to serve cherry coke."

"Fine, then the lemon coke thingy."

"Nope, no 'lemon coke thingy' here." He shook his head.

"See, but the lemon coke thingy doesn't even have that much lemon, so you can't possibly not serve the lemon coke thingy. Plus, if you don't have different varieties of cokes, people will go to Weston's where they are classy and they have the lemon coke thingy and the cherry coke! Ha, you have competition. But, if you get the lemon coke thingy now you won't have to deal with a ranting Lorelai and you'd have the lemon coke thingy for you and Jess. Now, since Jess is a complete hoodlum, he probably won't drink it...maybe a beer would do the trick? I don't know. All I know is that the lemon coke thingy and the cherry coke thingy is perfect with a burger, plus, if your feeling really creative, you can add lemon to the coke and make it a lemon coke thingy. But, since I have a great tongue, great for kissing by the way, I will taste the lemon and you're not supposed to in the lemon coke thingy-,"

"Jess, go get Lorelai the lemon coke thingy!" Luke yelled, annoyed.

"Uh, Luke, Jess isn't here. I thought you knew...he took a break." Ceaser said from the kitchen.

"I didn't give him permission to take off." Luke protested.

"Luke, meet your nephew Jess...Jess does not enjoy telling you things, unless it's, 'Ha! The whole town is dying because I put poison in the water supply. All bow down to me.' He also enjoys wrecking cars. And look, he stole your truck. Lovely." Lorelai sighed.

"What?" Luke exclaimed.

"Your truck isn't parked outside. I saw it when I came in...but, I figured that you were off somewhere..." Lorelai drifted off. "And he's the only one that would steal your truck because he knows where the key is. I do too...but I'm right here you see."

"No, I thought you were a hologram." Luke said, sarcastically.

"What are you going to do?"

"Kill him."

"Oooh, can I help?" Lorelai exclaimed excitedly.

Luke just gave her a blank look, shaking his head and walking off.

"Hey, what about my lemon coke thingy? Luke!"

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The lunch had gone great for Rory and Jess. So, soon, they fell into a pace, their own little schedule. Every day, Jess would steal Luke's truck and go to pick up Rory where they would go to a late lunch. She took to not eating in school, so she could eat after school with her boyfriend. Lorelai got the same stupid excuses day after day and she tried not to read anything into it. On weekends, they would probably see each other at the diner, or Jess would go over to Rory's house when her mom was not there. The same went with the apartment above Luke's.

Rory was smiling, thinking about how it had all worked out so well for them. She thought that she would have to give up seeing Jess. And she definitely didn't want that...no, this was better. Much better. She was finishing typing a report, but she couldn't get her mind off of Jess. It had already been two weeks since they first decided their plan and she was happy. Truly happy.

She heard a noise, so she turned her head. Rory smiled widely when she saw what it was.

Jess Mariano was at her window, tapping. She ran over to the window and opened it up so he could get it. She moved to the side, so he would have space to actually climb in.

"Hey." Rory smiled throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him softly. "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored at Luke's." He smirked, kissing her again.

"You didn't come all the way here just to do...this, did you?"

"What are you accusing me of, Gilmore?"

"Nothing, oh nothing." Rory stated with a smile. He sat at the chair where she had been sitting before, and pulled her into his lap. "You know, you're lucky that mom is at work because if not, you would have been at risk of dying."

"Dying?"

"Yep." Rory giggled. "So, what _did _you come here for?"

"Luke was kicking the damn oven."

"The damn oven?"

"Yep. He kept on going, 'that damn oven!' and kicking it repeatedly. He has been in a bad mood lately with Taylor bugging him to put up a banner for a _special _town meeting, Ceaser has been sick all week, you know, normal stuff."

"Ah, you stuff?"

"Yep."

"What is a _special _town meeting?" Rory laughed.

"All I know is that he is over there now with Lorelai–,"

"Mom? I told you, she's at work..."

"She has been at the diner all day." Jess looked confused.

"Hold on. Be right back..." Rory drifted off, standing up. He followed her into the living room where she pressed the answering machine for messages. Her mother's voice boomed through machine.

'_Hey sweets. Luke needs extra help at the diner so I'm helping him out...uh, if you want, you can come to Luke's for food. But, after four, I'll be at the special town meeting because_ _I need to watch Luke throw something at Taylor. Money's under the Rabbi. I'll be home late, love ya!'_

"Huh." Jess smirked.

"I can't believe I totally missed that whole message." Rory pouted, sitting on the couch. Jess did the same, but put an arm around her. "I thought she was at work because she usually is at this time...hey, since when are mom and Luke so–,"

"Together every moment of the day?" He interrupted.

"Jess. No. They aren't together. Mom would have told me..."

"I'm sure their not together together. They are too blind to see that, but they have been hanging out a lot lately." He sighed. "Can we please not talk about them right now? It would ruin my rep to be seen talking about two adults in a positive manner."

Rory rolled her eyes. "You know what? You are impossible."

He smirked, leaning in and brushed his lips against her's. She smiled against his lips, but deepened the kiss by throwing her arms around his neck. She played with the curls in the back of his neck softly. She slowly moved to sit on his lap, practically straddling him as he placed his hands on her waist.

"Woah there!" Lorelai exclaimed.

Rory and Jess turned their heads awkwardly and Rory tried to untangle herself, but ended up falling backwards and her head hitting the table. "Ouch." She mumbled.

"Okay, I have no time to deal with this right now..." Lorelai shook her head in disbelief. "Both of you, in the car. Now!" They looked confused, but stood up. "Come on, move." Rory could see tears in her mother's eyes.

"I'll just go then..." Jess said awkwardly.

"Did I not just say the both of you? Get in the damn car!" Lorelai yelled.

"Mom, what happened?" Rory asked, softly.

"I'll tell you on the way to the hospital. Now, come on!" Lorelai bit her lip, on the verge of crying. They both nodded and followed her out of the house.


	10. To Be Only Yours

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story line.

A/N: I AM SO SORRY! I was completely stuck on this story…I felt so bad. But, I'm happy now that I can finally update your cliffhanger…except, oops, I think I have one on the bottom of this chapter too. Lol. Sorry. But, don't worry, I will definitely update WAY faster. Again, I'm sorry. Well, on with the story…

---

"Mom. Please. Sit down, your making me crazy pacing like that." Rory said in a shriveled voice, half scared of having a nervous breakdown, and half scared that something horrible might be happening to Luke at that moment. Lorelai barely paid attention to her daughter, but she did sit. "Umm, did—I mean, what--,"

Lorelai stopped her, "Rory, no. I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood for conversation right now. I can barely hold my head up and I don't want to fall asleep right now."

Rory leaned into her chair, slouching down. Feeling smaller and smaller every second that her mother scolded her. Jess noticed. "Rory, how about we go and get some coffee in the cafeteria, huh?" She nodded a small nod, and picked up her sweater. Jess turned to Lorelai, "Want us to bring you something?"

"Just go. I'm fine."

Rory didn't look at her mother when she had said this, she had a feeling that if she did then she would probably start to cry. She followed Jess out to the cafeteria; they didn't say anything to each other the whole time. She had her sweater clutched in her hands, even while she was eating her Jell-O.

It had already become watery, and it was barely whole. "So, wild day, huh? I was practically scared out of my mind when mom told us that he had some kind of collapse or something. I mean, he's the healthiest man I know probably."

"Uh-huh." Jess nodded, his eyes wouldn't even meet her's.

"What's wrong?"

He flinched, "Nothing, Rory. Eat your Jell-O."

She felt her eyes start to water, and she looked down at her coffee. "This isn't my fault."

"I know."

"Then why are you treating me this way? Why is everyone treating me like a piece of dirt?"

"Nobody is treating you like a piece of dirt, Rory."

She switched her fork to her other hand, still picking at her food. "Okay." Her voice was small, and when he looked at her he could tell that she was upset. Her hair was in front of her eyes, and her hands were shaking.

Jess sighed. "I'm just not in a chatty mood, okay?"

"I get it." She nodded. But, he could tell that she didn't because she was still staring at her coffee as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "I—Well, I guess that I'll go and bring some coffee to mom."

Then, she was fast enough to get out of the room so that she didn't have to look him in the eye.

He leaned back against the chair and rubbed his temple. He was getting a headache for all of this. Rory, Luke, Lorelai. It was all that was going through his mind. He wanted to comfort Rory, and tell her that it wasn't about her. Or, even talk to Lorelai…who had been completely horrible to him in the past, but the only person that would understand him at that moment. See Luke. That was first on his list of things to do.

When he was getting up to pay, a doctor stopped him.

"I'm sorry, could you tell that young woman that was with you a second ago that her father has woken up and is requesting to see her…he goes by the name of Luke Danes?"

His lip quivered. "But—I mean, he wants to see Rory?"

"He said that she would be with you, his nephew? Blue eyes, brown hair? I assumed it was his daughter."

"Oh. Yeah, I'll tell her."

He nodded, "Great."

"Oh, and doctor!" Jess called after him, he stopped. "Is—is he okay?"

The doctor gave him a genuine smile. "I'll let him tell you that himself."

He could catch his breath again, and looked down.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Everything had happened so fast. Too fast. She was just getting used to no one talking to her, when Jess just out of the blue sat next to her and mumbled about Luke wanting to see her. She was now standing in front of his hospital room. She was the first person he wanted to see. Believe it or not, that was a huge responsibility. Her mother could barely believe that Luke would want to see Rory _first. _She couldn't even try to apologize because she didn't exactly know if she had anything to apologize for.

A nurse walked up to Rory, worried. "I'm sorry, can I help you with anything?" She talked slowly as if she thought that Rory was mentally unable to comprehend what she was saying.

"No thanks. I'm just…waiting for someone."

"_Okay._" She said, giving her an idiotic smile and then walking away.

She looked around, it was now or never. She pushed the door open and put her hand over her mouth when she saw him. Luke was laying in a hospital bed, he didn't look too comfortable. He looked pretty pale, but he didn't have an awkward look on his face when she walked in. More like peaceful, she guessed it was the drugs.

"Luke." Rory nodded, walking over to the side of the bed slowly.

He cleared his throat, as if he had also lost his voice. "I didn't think you would be here…I mean--,"

She shook her head. "I freaked out when mom told me that you were here. I mean, it just came to a surprise. But, I would have never not come. And…Uh, how are you doing?"

"I'm getting my nutrients from a hospital machine, who knows if they have some kind of unhealthy substance in that stuff? It could be anything."

Rory smiled, fighting back tears. "It's a hospital. They want to make you healthy."

Luke pointed a finger at her. "That's what they want you to think." She laughed dryly. "So, your probably wondering why--,"

"You asked to see me first? Yeah, a little."

He nodded his head. "I just needed to tell you that I know."

"You know what?"

"You and Jess, Jess and you. I found your..uhm, bra behind the couch at home. He probably didn't think that I would actually have to clean at some point." He looked uncomfortable.

Rory turned bright red. "Luke, we didn't—I mean, we never…"

"Okay." Luke stated, sighing. "Just…don't. I mean, don't now if you didn't then…or—,"

"It was just your basic boy-girl stuff, I promise."

Luke didn't nod, he barely even acknowledged it. "This doesn't mean that I'm okay with this. You should know better than hiding this from your mother, especially after she told you not to see him. It's not fair that I had to keep that secret all that time."

"Mom knows." She whispered.

"Oh, she knows?"

Rory sighed, shifting uncomfortably. "Yeah. She knows. But, I didn't tell her. So, it makes me the same kind of liar. She came in to tell us about the hospital, and we were kissing."

"It was today?"

"Yup." Rory looked around, not meeting his eyes. "So, now that you told me that you know…should I call in mom? Or even Jess?"

"After you tell me what's wrong."

She shook her head. "Nothing. Everyone's just tense. And Jess is upset, so, I can call him in if you want. He was worried even if he doesn't admit it. Mom was going ballistic."

Luke shut his eyes, "You can send Lorelai in."

"Oh. Okay." Her face dropped, but she nodded.

He heard her close the door, and then the drugs took over and he couldn't keep his eyes opened.

The next time he opened his eyes, Lorelai was sitting next to him with coffee in her hands.

"Hey there. We had a bit of a scare back there. You okay?" He nodded. "Don't talk, drink." She shoved the coffee in his face, but he firmly shook his head.

He grumbled, "It doesn't matter that I had a near death experience..I'm still not drinking something that can kill you. Coffee isn't going to be the thing that will kill me, I'm sure of that."

Lorelai smirked. "I am."

"Exactly." He chuckled.

"So, with your hilarious sense of humor…I can guess that you're doing at least okay?"

"Not great, but okay." Luke nodded, he stared at her hands that were trembling. "But your not. Rant. Go ahead. Tell me all about Rory and Jess' romance."

She shakily changed the subject, "The doctor said that you had a mild heart attack. Why don't we talk about _that_?"

"Stress, nothing else to it. Now, talk to me about the fact that you are picturing fifty different ways to murder Jess without anyone noticing."

"Fifty-one." She mumbled.

He sighed, "What happened?"

"I—I walked in, and they were heavy on the making out. It was only what I expected, this was bound to happen when one turns into their mother." Lorelai's voice was strong, but she could barely hold up her cup. "_Lock you up and throw away the key_. I'm surprised she's not pregnant."

"Lorelai--,"

"It's fine, Luke. It's actually good that I know what has been happening to me. Chris flashbacks. You know Jess and Chris could be brothers? That's how much they're alike. It's just scary. She's bound to make a mistake."

Luke narrowed his eyes on her. "Rory was a mistake?"

"Well, it wasn't a smart decision."

He nodded. "But you love her, and everything is great now. She is the best kid in the world, and just with a touch of her finger, she could probably make someone look at her differently. Jess fell into her spell. Can't blame him. Those are some good genes."

Lorelai looked up and smiled. "If you're trying to make me feel better, it's working." He returned the smile. "Eh, Luke, are you really okay?" He didn't respond, he just shrugged. "I could barely breath when I saw that you had collapsed. You were clutching your chest…"

"I was going to be okay."

"Well, it didn't feel like it." She said in all seriousness. "I couldn't move, I didn't know what to do. The next thing I knew, someone had called an ambulance and I was just staring at you, not moving. When strange men came to pick you up, I walked out the door and watched the ambulance drive away. It took me fifteen minutes to get to my house, because I was so—upset." She finally said. He could see that she was starting to cry, hiding it terribly.

Luke shook his head. "You weren't going to loose me."

"It took me fifteen minutes to get to my house, Luke. I'm a horrible person, you could have been dying and I was taking my grand old time."

"But you weren't."

She shrugged, "What's the difference? You would have never done the same with me…you would have probably performed surgery right there, because your like that. Brave. I don't know what I would even do without you."

Luke smiled. "I'm not going anywhere, so, you don't have to worry about that."

Lorelai wiped existing tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I was too late."

Luke had a blank expression on his face, but she felt a warm hand over her's. "No you weren't."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Umm, excuse me, but could you tell me where that guy over there went? He had kind of black hair, leather jacket?"

"Oh, the cute boy…I think he went down to the cafeteria." The receptionist smiled. "Aww, your boyfriend?"

Rory nodded emptily. "Something like that."

"Cute, cute."

Rory nodded and sighed. "Well, thanks. I'll go find him."

The woman gave her a reassuring nod and then walked off. Rory sighed, fingering the cup of coffee in her hands. She had to talk to him, she couldn't even bear not having contact with him for half an hour, and it had been a long six hours. He hadn't even made eye contact, which was probably her fault.

She walked quickly to the deserted cafeteria. There was no one in there except a bunch of doctors laughing on their lunch hour. She looked around, and saw that Jess wasn't there. She frowned; there was only one other place he could be.

Instantly, when she walked outside, she saw him leaning against the walls of the hospital, having a smoke. He was just kicking the snow around; he was so distant that he didn't even notice that she was there. She walked over to him, and stood next to him. "Hey. You okay?" Rory whispered, not wanting to bother him.

He practically jumped. "Oh, hi. I thought you were Lorelai…"

Rory smiled, "Well, we do have a resemblance."

He took a look at her and nodded. "We haven't talked yet, have we?" Rory looked confused. "Yeah, I was kind of dreading this talk…it's the talk which ends with you crying."

"What are you talking about?"

"Rory."

"What, Jess? What do you want from me? Do you want me to go into your brain and understand what you're trying to do or say to me? Am I supposed to understand why you're being so distant or horrible? I can't do that." Rory felt her nose running from the coldness; it could probably be the fact that she was about to cry. He knew her too well.

Jess sighed. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for, Jess? Tell me please."

"I knew that this was going to happen. I knew it. Because I always screw up, and you're always the good one. Lorelai was right, you know? I was going to ruin you. Look at you, Rory." She looked down. "You're lying to your best friend, you're sneaking around with the guy who isn't right. Who's wrong. And you're just in it for the chase."

Rory looked up. "What chase? There is no chase, I've caught you. Or you've caught me..I thought we were doing alright, but I guess you had other thoughts that I didn't know about."

"I'm your charity case, Rory."

"Your not, Jess." Rory refused, "You're my boyfriend."

"You're trying to fix me."

She felt tears stinging in her eyes. "No I'm not."

"This was all my fault, Rory. Don't you get it? Luke is like this because of me. I was the one who stole the car every single day, I sneaked out in the middle of the night, and it was all just to see you."

"So, it's my fault? Or are you saying that I'm not worth it?"

Jess groaned, looking down. "Your definitely worth it. And it wasn't your fault…it was mine. That's why---That's why I want to go back to New York."

Now, he could tell that she was really crying. "But, you can't."

"I'm not doing anything for Luke here."

"You're doing something for me, Jess. I never felt this way, not even with Dean. Why would you sweep me off my feet just to sweep me back down? Why would you put me through that if you knew this was going to happen? If you knew it wasn't going to last?"

"I didn't think about anything…I just wanted to look into your blue eyes without feeling guilty. Have one kiss, maybe just one before I screwed up."

"Did you even think about me? How this would make me feel?"

"This is better, Rory."

He reached out to console her, but she just backed up. "Don't give me the 'This is better, Rory' It's all crap, that's what it is. And I actually thought that this could last…but, your just scared, you're scared that you could actually fall without getting hurt. So, you're hurting me. And I don't think that's fair at all."

"Maybe it isn't…but, I have to go. Luke doesn't even want to talk to me."

"This isn't your fault!"

"Of course it is, Rory. Don't be so freaking naïve."

Rory bit her lip, wiping some tears off of her eyes, and rubbing her hands for warmth. "Why are you doing this?"

For the first time, his voice sounded tortured. "That's the worst part, I don't even know."

"So, you're breaking up with me because you don't know? I'm here for you and you don't know?"

Jess looked down at the frozen ice on the sidewalk. "I'll be helping Luke for two weeks, and then I'll tell him that I'm going back to Liz. If she hasn't abandoned her apartment yet. If she did, then I'll get my own job and I'll survive."

He tried to make eye contact with her, but she just looked away. He tried holding her hand, but she held it for two seconds to hold on to the feeling and then left him feeling cold. Then, she felt something cold on her head. She looked up and little snowflakes were coming down from the cloudy sky, she felt one stick to her lips and then she looked to Jess. He reached out, and she closed her eyes. She felt his finger wipe against her chapped lip, and when she opened her eyes, he was gone. She could see his shadow of a body, walk down the sidewalk. And the only thing she could do, was stand there.


	11. Guilty of Guilt

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls.

A/N: For all of you who reviewed; thank you. For those who didn't; shame, shame. And again, I'm sorry for the long wait for the chapter. And I'm sure you all hate me, but I am truly sorry. I know I can't promise you anything, but I'll try my hardest to get the next chapter up quicker.

Keep on reading and reviewing!

--

The next morning, Rory awoke hearing giant banging, and she was 50 percent sure that it wasn't in her head like it had been last night when she took 500 aspirins. She sat up, squinting at the light coming in through her window and sighed. The one thing she could do without that morning was standing outside her window, holding a hammer looking hot. She rubbed her eyes and stood up. Her pajama top was wrinkled and she had on little tiny shorts. This was not the best outfit to greet an ex-boyfriend in. It was not a great time to greet an ex-boyfriend period.

"Mom, thanks for your latest attempt to get us back together, but I don't think it's going to work." She mumbled to herself, walking into the kitchen. She grabbed a note that was on the already made coffee.

_Feed Jess. Doesn't he look really hungry? I left breakfast for TWO and TWO cups of coffee out._

Rory crumpled up the note, frowning. She pondered what she would do if she could actually go out there and ask him to have breakfast with her. Would they get back together? Would it be a sign of her wanting to for them to get back together? God, it had only been one night since they broke up and she was already pining. So, she had to prove her mother wrong. She could see him and not have feelings. It would be completely natural. She moved across the house and out the door where she saw Jess look at her silently. That stopped her from saying anything. The look. The Jess look. She whimpered.

He sighed, and returned to his work, not looking at her anymore.

"I don't—I didn't come to reconcile or anything. I came to offer you breakfast. My mom was very subtle in giving me breakfast that could feed four. Since, I can eat for two." She blabbered on. "I'm sorry, I'm just--,"

Jess nodded, "I know."

"So, will you? Have breakfast?"

His eyes wandered all over her body, it was amazing how he could have given up the fact that he could hold her and kiss her any time he wanted and it wouldn't be weird. Except now it was weird. "Just breakfast?"

"I promise."

But, she shouldn't be promising. She should be mad at him, in her bed. He should be promising, calling her filled with apologies. She smiled at him a reassuring smile, although, it wasn't at all assuring to her.

"Let's go."

She nodded, and he followed her into the house. The last time he had been in his house, he had been a friendly face, but now he was a stranger. He looked at the place as if he had never been in there before. The familiar smell of Luke's hit his nose, and he smirked. They both knew a good breakfast was yet to come, so, they sat down rather quickly.

Jess picked up a note that was loosely lying on the table. "What's this?"

Rory panicked and snatched it out of his hand. "Oh, nothing. My mom left me a note."

"Inviting me to eat breakfast?"

"It's not--,"

"Rory, please, don't do me any favors."

"I'm not--,"

Jess kept on going, "I'm not pathetic. It's not like you need to invite me for breakfast and make everything okay. You do know that I am a big boy?"

Rory soon got irritated. "Oh my god! Will you let me talk?" He stared. "I am not doing you any favors, and you are not pathetic, I know that since you were the one that left _me _standing there like an idiot last night. If anyone's pathetic it's me, I am the one who's pining and being destroyed. You're acting like nothing's wrong, and I respect that…but, there's no need to pick a fight over NOTHING."

She took a breath.

"Now, I don't want _you _to do _me _any favors by staying for breakfast. You can go." She huffed, feeling horrible. She slumped down on the chair, and stared at the breakfast for two.

"Rory--,"

"Go."

She only heard the door slam a few seconds later and all she could do was bury her head into her hands. She felt a couple of tears tingling at her eyes, but she didn't let them get the better of her. It's only a boy. That's all she had to tell herself. It's only a boy.

It's only a boy.

--

"So, how's Rory doing?" Luke asked that morning, sitting in bed. The doctor had told him complete bed rest for at least a week. He said that he had been in way too much stress, but the being in bed was making him even more stressed.

Jess shrugged, turning up his CD Player. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Well, you guys had something going on, right?"

"We did and now we don't. No big drama. Just drop it," Jess snapped, looking down at his CD collection. He remembered that Rory had left a CD in there the other day and it was his mission to find all her things and get them out of his stuff so he wouldn't accidently take them to New York.

He furrowed a brow, "What's wrong?"

"Like you care."

"I do care if your hurting Rory or she's hurting you. And what are you packing?"

Jess sighed, running a hand through his hair. He put down all the CDs and leaned against the wall. "I'm packing to leave. Stars Hollow isn't working out and I would rather live on my own than stay in this poor excuse of a town any longer."

Luke looked at him in surprise. "Does this have to do with Rory, Jess? Is she the reason your leaving?"

"Not exactly."

"Then who, Jess?"

He hesitated for a moment and then turned to Luke, trying not to put an un-easy expression on his face. "I'm just leaving. Did I ever have another reason? No. Now, please hand me my T-Shirt."

Luke threw the plain black over-sized T-Shirt and shook his head. "Your making a mistake."

"I'm okay with that," Jess shoved his shirt into his duffle bag and walked out of the room and into the bathroom. He sighed, putting each hand on opposite sides of the sink. His head hurt and there wasn't an inch of his body that didn't ache. He sighed, and turned on the faucet so Luke wouldn't get suspicious.

Jess put his head in between his knees and sighed, waiting for the momentary pain to pass.

--

"Honey!" Lorelai called as she ran into the house. "Rory, Babe!"

Rory stuck her head out of her room and looked at her mother in confusion. "Mom?"

Lorelai smiled at her and walked towards her quietly, she was sure that Rory didn't expect her at this time of day. "Did you talk to Jess? Luke said he was here this morning. I mean, did you guys make up? Was there a happily ever after?"

"Mom, I don't understand why your trying to push me and Jess together. Last time I checked you didn't like Jess or me."

She shrugged, feeling a bit of guilt inside of her. "Well–,"

"What happened?"

"Nothing, Hon. I'm just–Can we talk normally instead of out here?"

Rory gave her mother a suspicious look, Lorelai and her hadn't been on great terms since the hospital. And she was acting strangely nice, why would she change her mind? She followed her mother into the living room and sat next to her on the couch. "Alright. What?"

"Don't be mad at me, Honey. If we're going to do this, we can't hold a grudge."

"You didn't let me date who I wanted to! I have a right to be upset," She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Lorelai sighed, "Can I explain myself?"

"You can try."

"When Jess came into town, it was scary watching you with him," Lorelai started, a little shakily. "You looked at him like I looked at Christopher. Now, first of all, that is not a good way to start off because Chris is not my favorite person right now. But, just the way that he talked to me that first night, and the way that you wanted to convince me that he was good...or is good. I just didn't like it."

"Why?" Rory exclaimed. "Why can you date a Jess and I can't?"

"Because the guy who is your Christopher is going to break your heart and it hurts me so much for you to go through that. It was just all in bad timing, it's all too messy."

"I want it to be messy. Maybe if I had let you had let him have a chance to actually break my heart, he wouldn't be leaving." Rory said in a whisper. It was way too many heavy things that were sitting on her heart. After the possibility of being with Jess being stomped on, it hurt to be talking about it with her Mom.

"Leaving?"

"Yes, leaving."

Lorelai looked at her daughter with a worried face. "I'd hate to say it, but–,"

Rory shook her head, standing up. "What? I told you so? I don't need to hear it."

"Rory, please, I'm trying as hard as I can to fix this."

"I don't need for you to fix this, especially not by making yourself push me and Jess together. It's over and you can stop feeling guilty," Rory sighed, walking off to her room again. She could be sure that her mother won't bother her anymore after she snapped at her.

She leaned against the doorframe, sliding down the door until she was sitting on the floor. Her eyes were tingling and her heart was clenched. He was only a boy.

The only boy.


	12. And You Give Yourself Away

A/N: I'm trying as hard as I can to continue this story, trust me. But it's simply hard for me to write this story sometimes. Well, read, you've waited long enough. Which I am incredibly sorry about, by the way.

--

"Lane," Rory caught up to her friend, as she had been calling her since she spotted her down the street. Lane simply looked forward and didn't speak. She furrowed her brow, not understanding what was wrong. "Lane? Hi…" She flashed a hand in front of her face, but Lane just kept on walking with a pained expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" She mumbled, looking around. Without warning, Lane turned the curb and sped up on her walk. Rory recognized where she was going, so she followed her all the way to Kim's Antiques. Mrs. Kim was standing there, a firm expression playing on her face, suddenly grabbing Lane by the arm and guiding her into the house. "Lane!" She yelled out, but they simply closed the door before she could even open the fence.

Rory sighed and looked at her feet. Suddenly, she saw everyone rush by her, whispering into each other's ears. This made her mad. Was there something she didn't know about? Frustrated, she wrapped her arms around herself and walked down the street a bit faster. But, before she knew it, a hand was clasped over her mouth and she was being pulled into a shadow. She was so surprised, she even forgot to fight it.

She opened her mouth to say something, but when she saw the familiar face over her, she simply stood there, speechless. "Don't talk, okay?" Dean's voice was back to the way she remembered it. Soft and caring.

Rory felt so confused she simply stood there as he let go of her and let him look at her, up and down. Dean ran a hand through his hair. It was different somehow, longer and slightly more imperfect. "Rory, god," His lips were now a thin line. "I haven't been able to talk to you…until now. You haven't come out a lot."

"Dean, I--," She started to form some kind of excuse to leave, but he stopped her with his hand once again.

"I'm sorry. Jesus, am I sorry. Do you know what I did to you? I shoved you, I practically manhandled you."

_Practically?_ Her mind repeated the word over and over in her head.

Dean looked around cautiously. "I don't even know what to say. I just got _so _mad. Because I loved you, Rory, and I bet anyone who sees you can relate to the feeling. And it felt like you were just throwing everything away, throwing everything we carefully built. It was a relationship, right?"

She doesn't answer.

"And I knew Jess wasn't right for you, it made me frustrated. And I'm sorry, I just wish we can—I'm just sorry, okay? No strings attached."

_No strings attached._

Rory just stood there like an idiot. She _felt _like an idiot. This guy, he had been her love for so long, he had held her hand and made it all better. _He had hurt her. _

Dean sighed, "I know I'm being stupid thinking you'll forgive me. I'm sorry."

She folded her arms over her chest, looking around to see if anyone was watching like they had been before. They were all looking, suspiciously watching her out of the corner of their eyes.

_The girl who was abused. The girl who got dumped by the bad seed. She has no friends. She ended up alone. Alone, alone, alone._

She felt her heart burn up with every whisper they muttered. Rory pursed her lips together, not being able to take it anymore. She closed her eyes tightly and put both her hands on Dean's broad shoulders. She opened her eyes slowly, making sure she noted every movement. He was a lot taller than her, but she closed the gap between his lips and hers with one small move. A dry kiss that he eventually deepened blindly, making her sick to her stomach. But it was something, at least it was something.

--

"Pillows," Lorelai searched Luke's closet frantically. "Okay, I think you have officially blown my mind. How can you not have _pillows_? Okay, so I can understand a remote control for your radio, but a frickin' pillow?" She shook her head. "You do know that pillows have been recently invented by some _very _sophisticated man, right?"

Luke rolled his eyes, wriggling under all the covers. "The pillows are in the next closet. You have ants in your pants."

"Says the man that can't sit still. What's wrong with you?"

"You have me under house arrest."

Lorelai grabbed a pillow from the closet that Luke pointed out and threw it at him. "The doctor said that you have to be around a calm and warm environment. I'm sorry if I want to follow the doctor's orders. This is a _warm _and extremely calm environment."

Luke only repeated his sentence. "You have me under house arrest. I can't even move under these covers. You won't even let me go to the bathroom."

She made a defensive face, "All of Jess's hair gel on the floor might have made you fall and hit your head on his CD's and then you would be stuck to the floor because of the gel, and you'd never be able to get up. It'd be just horrible."

"Well, you just thought of everything," He chuckled.

"See how good of a nurse I am?"

He smiled. "All you need is the outfit."

Lorelai walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge of the small bed. "I'm glad you're smiling. I want you to be relaxed." Pause. She looked down, guilty. "I kind of wanted to get away from the house."

"I thought you were trying to make Rory happy again," He said, confused. "You were trying to make it up to her."

"I _was. _Until me and her got into a fight about Jess. Again! It just annoys me that we spend all our time fighting now. About the same thing, too. It's like I can never leave her alone, I can never let her make her own decisions," She placed her hand on her forehead, exasperated. "It makes me angry."

Luke placed a hand on her's. "Rory is a kid. I can understand why you would want to be her brain. But, Jess, he's leaving…and you win. You win because she can't go after him, she's here—he's there. They are going to be in different places now, and you won't have to deal with it."

"Yeah, yeah," Lorelai said quickly. "So, are you comfortable?"

"Luke!"

_Bam._ Jess opened the door and ran in the door. "Luke!" He shouted, staring at Luke and Lorelai. "Something happened with Dean. Everyone's gathering in your diner to talk about Rory, apparently. Something about him and her."

Lorelai stood up, alarmed. "Did they say what happened?"

He shrugged, out of breath. "I don't know. Morey saw them on the corner of Kim's Antiques. He said something all jumbled up, and the people are eating it up."

"Um, then, I'll go after her," She bit her lip.

Luke stopped her with his hand, shaking his head. "Jess needs to go with you. If I can't get up, and you have no strength…if something happened—he can do something about it. Just go, both of you."

Jess opened his mouth to protest, but Lorelai was already out the door, and Luke gave him this look that told him to go. He ran after her, she was in such a quick pace you could hardly believe it was Lorelai doing exercise. "Lorelai! Hold on!" He yelled after her, but followed her onto the Kim's street.

They saw Dean walking along the sidewalk, and as soon as Jess saw him, there was nothing left to do. He ran up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and punched him square in the eye. "Dammit. Where is she?" He asked a pained Dean.

Lorelai had a hand over her mouth, staring at them both.

Dean took in a sharp breath and then looked over at Lorelai. "Lorelai, god, nothing happened. I swear! She came up to me—and we talked." As he took care of his eye and looked at Jess with a menacing look, Lorelai walked in the middle of them.

She exhaled softly. "Stop it! Jess, _go home!_ Dean, _do not speak!_"

"But, Lorelai! I didn't do anything, believe me, I didn't do anything," Dean argued pointlessly.

Suddenly, they heard a small bell. Mrs. Kim was staring at the three of them. Lorelai sighed and faked a smile. "Hey there. I'm sorry if these boys are being disruptive…on your lawn, but, um…"

"Mom!" Rory ran towards them. It seemed like a crowd all of a sudden. "Jess!" He turned his head and saw her running towards him. But when she saw Dean, it was him she went to. "What the hell happened?"

Dean winced in pain, when she touched his face. "He hit me."

Jess rolled his eyes. "What, are we in first grade all of a sudden?"

Rory looked over at Jess, with a confused expression on her face. She looked pained and betrayed. Her eyes suddenly went to Dean, her thumb gracing the eye. "Are you okay?" Dean didn't have a chance to say anything, she simply turned to Jess. "What is wrong with you? You can't leave him alone! Us alone!"

He took a step towards her. "He hurt you once, Rory! How was I going to know that he wasn't going to do it again?"

Lorelai interfered once again. "You guys, stop it! We can't be screaming each other's heads off in public like this. Do you think it's pleasant for people to hear you yelling in the middle of the street? Can you all get over it and leave each other alone?" She yelled.

Mrs. Kim gave them all a dirty look. "Get these unwashed boys off my property or I will get the bat." She made a sharp turn on her heel and slammed the door shut.

Lorelai glanced at Rory and Dean, and then at Jess. "Jess, maybe you should head home to Luke. He wanted to know what was going on."

Rory nodded and let go of Dean, as she didn't look his way as Jess walked away. Lorelai gave Dean a look that said that he should go home also. He simply gave Rory one last look before heading the opposite way that Jess took.

_Alone, alone, alone._ Maybe it was true.

--

A/N: What motivates me to write are your comments. Good or bad. So please keep on reading and reviewing! Thank you all who have so far.


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